Warriors impress at State B

Erik Gjovik | Mar 27, 2023

Erik Gjovik count

Jason Lenoir of the Warwick Warriors and Karter Peterson of the Thompson Tommies jump for the ball at the beginning of the game.

Erik Gjovik count

Fans from the area descended upon Bismarck to root for the Warriors, who hadn't gone to state since 1996.

From the sixth seed at Region 4 to a Cinderella appearance at the State Class B Tournament in Bismarck March 16-18, the Warwick Warriors gained a few fans along the way for their fearless, free-wheeling style.

Even though Warwick, the smallest school in the tournament, lost all three games at the tourney to come home in eighth place and fell to 0-9 all time at the State B, Coach Ryan Brown's group has nothing for which to be ashamed.

The Warriors were merely half a quarter from pulling off one of the biggest upsets in tournament history in the quarterfinal round. In that game, they put a massive scare into top-seeded and unbeaten Central Cass before a fourth-quarter run by the Squirrels put them away, 58-43.

With 19 points from sophomore guard Elijah Feather and seven assists by guard Dorvan McKay off the bench, WHS went toe-to-toe with the eventual state champions for the better part of three periods. The Warriors held a 43-38 lead going into the fourth, but the Squirrels flipped the script with a 20-3 final eight minutes, including a 14-0 run to close out the game.

Six-foot-seven center Cole Holzer owned the inside with 16 points and a jaw-dropping 19 rebounds. He also dished out five assists for the winners.

Also for Central Cass, Carter Vrchota and Mason Bosse were in double figures with 12 and 10 point-evenings.

Feather finished with five steals before fouling out, and Mark Fassett had eight rebounds to go along with his 10 points for Warwick.

In the consolation round, the Warriors faced Thompson, and brought their shooting touch early with nine three-pointers in the first half and a 10-point lead at the break, 43-33.

It didn't last, however, and Thompson took advantage of that hot basket in the second half to shoot 67.9 percent and take an 83-67 win going away.

Drew Overby's 32 points, to go along with five threes, led the Tommies to the comeback win. Jakob Stacevic had 14, and Karter Peterson posted an 11-point, 10-rebound double-double.

Fassett and McKay each scored 17 to pace the Warriors, and Dwight Hunt once again proved his chops as a valuable sixth-man off the bench with 11 points.

Brayden Wolfgram had nine points for Thompson, but his value came from his team-high seven assists and five steals.

In the seventh place game, the Warriors fell behind early to the Medina/Pingree-Buchanan Thunder, and couldn't keep pace in a 68-51 tourney-concluding defeat.

M-P-B (22-6) was led by senior Josh Moser's 29 points, and 6'5" junior forward Rylen Wick added 21 in the Thunder scoring column. The two combined to shoot seven trifectas for the afternoon.

A strong supporting effort came in the person of Gage Magstadt, who scored 10 points and tied with Moser for team boards honors with eight. Sawyer Wanzek also secured seven rebounds.

For his final varsity game for Warwick, Fassett made it count, scoring 17 points to go along with three steals and two assists. His efforts gained notice from those covering the tournament, as he was selected to the All-Tournament Team.

The Warriors have much to be excited about next season, with the newly-configured three-division system in place giving them another shot to make a repeat appearance.

Fassett and Jason Lenoir are the only graduates from this year's 19-9 squad, who made their first appearance at the State B in 27 years dating back to 1996 and third overall, also making it in 1989. All three trips ended in eighth place.

In the aftermath of this year's event, the top five placers (Central Cass, Shiloh Christian, Beulah, Des Lacs-Burlington and Thompson) will all be moving to Division A, the middle class in the recently-approved three-division setup.

The Squirrels pulled off the historic double state championship with a 61-44 win over Shiloh Saturday night, March 18. It was the school's first boys' crown since 1968, and came two weeks after the CCHS girls won their first-ever championship, 58-55, over Thompson in overtime.

Full statistics for the Warriors and their opponents in the three games, along with special award winners, are as follows:

State Class B Boys'

Basketball

Tournament, Bismarck

Quarterfinals

Central Cass 58, Warwick 43

Warwick 15 14 14 3 43

C. Cass 16 11 11 20 58

Warwick: Elijah Feather 19, Mark Fassett 10, Dalton Joramo 6, Dorvan McKay 4, Dwight Hunt 3, Marcus Joramo 2, Jason Lenoir 2. Totals: 18-53 FG, 3-4 FT, 16 fouls. Three-pointers: Feather 5, Fassett, Hunt. Fouled out: Feather.

Central Cass: Cole Holzer 16, Carter Vrchota 12, Mason Bosse 10, Sam Kobbervig 9, Eli Buhr 7, Chase Bachmeier 4. Totals: 22-56 FG, 11-16 FT, 10 fouls. Three-pointers: Buhr 2, Kobbervig.

Warwick Additional Stats

Rebounds: D. Joramo 9, Fassett 8, McKay 6, Feather 4, Hunt 2, M. Joramo 1.

Assists: McKay 7, Fassett 2, Lenoir 1.

Steals: Feather 4, D. Joramo 3, Fassett 2, M. Joramo 1.

Blocks: Fassett and Feather 1.

Central Cass Additional Stats

Rebounds: Holzer 19, Kobbervig 6, Vrchota 4, Buhr and Owen Wiersma 3, Bosse 2, Bachmeier 1.

Assists: Holzer 5, Kobbervig 3, Bosse 2, Vrchota 1.

Steals: Vrchota 5, Holzer 3, Bachmeier and Bosse 2, Kobbervig 1.

Blocks: Holzer 2, Kobbervig and Vrchota 1.

Consolation Round

Thompson 83, Warwick 67

Thom. 13 20 26 24 83

Warwick 21 22 13 11 67

Warwick: Fassett 17, McKay 17, Hunt 11, Feather 7, M. Joramo 6, D. Joramo 5, Lenoir 4. Totals: 24-64 FG, 10-13 FT, 17 fouls. Three-pointers: Fassett 3, McKay 3, Hunt, Feather, Lenoir. Fouled out: Fassett.

Thompson: Drew Overby 32, Jakob Starcevic 14, Karter Peterson 11, Brayden Wolfgram 9, Braden Tyce 8, Gavin Krogstad 6, Thomas Schumacher 3. Totals: 32-60 FG, 13-16 FT, 13 fouls. Three-pointers: Overby 5, Schumacher.

Warwick Additional Stats

Rebounds: Feather 8, Fassett 5, D. Joramo and M. Joramo 4, Evan Black and Lenoir 3, Hunt 1.

Assists: D. Joramo 2, Black and McKay 1.

Steals: D. Joramo 3, Feather and McKay 2, Fassett, Hunt, M. Joramo and Lenoir 1.

Blocks: Fassett, Hunt, M. Joramo and Lenoir 1.

Thompson Additional Stats

Rebounds: Peterson 10, Overby 7, Starcevic 6, Tyce and Wolfgram 4, Krogstad 3.

Assists: Wolfgram 7, Peterson 4, Overby, Starcevic and Tyce 2, Schumacher 1.

Steals: Wolfgram 5, Overby 3, Starcevic 2.

Blocks: Starcevic 3, Peterson 1.

Seventh Place

M-P-B 68, Warwick 51

Warwick 7 13 16 15 51

M-P-B 20 14 19 15 68

Warwick: Fassett 17, Feather 10, D. Joramo 10, M. Joramo 4, Lenoir 4, McKay 4, Kelsin Cavanaugh 2. Totals: 22-49 FG, 3-4 FT, 12 fouls. Three-pointers: Fassett 2, Feather 2.

M-P-B: Josh Moser 29, Rylen Wick 21, Gage Magstadt 10, Adam McClellan 4, Jared Moser 2, Sawyer Wanzek 2. Totals: 24-55 FG, 13-17 FT, 5 fouls. Three-pointers: Wick 4, Jo. Moser 3.

Warwick Additional Stats

Rebounds: Lenoir 6, Feather and M. Joramo 4, McKay 2, Cavanaugh, Fassett, D. Joramo and Randal Pearson 1.

Assists: Fassett 2, Feather and D. Joramo 1.

Steals: Fassett 3, Feather and D. Joramo 2, M. Joramo, Lenoir and McKay 1.

Blocks: Lenoir 3, M. Joramo 2.

M-P-B Additional Stats

Rebounds: Magstadt and Jo. Moser 8, Wanzek 7, McClellan and Wick 4, Roper Foerderer and Mark Thomas 1.

Assists: Jo. Moser 3, Wanzek and Wick 2, Magstadt and McClellan 1.

Steals: Magstadt and Wanzek 2, Jo. Moser, McClellan, Thomas and Wick 1.

Blocks: McClellan 1.

State Class B All-Tournament Team

Beulah: Trace Beauchamp