Flying high

It's early, but the New Rockford-Sheyenne Rockets are already showing how much better they've become since last season.

In their first game of the year, they went toe-to-toe with the second-ranked team in the state, even holding a lead for three quarters before ultimately falling behind in the final eight minutes.

And now, they've earned second place at the annual CNDC Tournament in Harvey, N.D., during which they enjoyed their most thrilling victory in recent memory.

The Rockets began their tournament on Thursday, Dec. 14 with a round 1 matchup against the St. John Woodchucks, who NR-S managed to dispatch with relative ease.

Against an undersized Woodchucks team, the Rockets were able to score from the paint seemingly at will. They simply lacked the size to contend with the likes of Ashton Reimche, a 6-foot-5-inch senior who earned 16 points against the Woodchucks.

The final score of round 1 was 72-50, advancing the Rockets to the semifinals.

Meanwhile, the Harvey/Wells County Hornets had taken care of the TGU Titans in their round 1 matchup, setting the stage for what would become a thrilling semifinal.

Early on, however, nothing could have seemed less likely. In fact, the game between NR-S and H/WC had the makings of a lopsided domination in the first few minutes.

The Hornets got off to a hot start both offensively and defensively in the first quarter, and after six minutes NR-S had managed just four points on offense. H/WC, meanwhile, had already scored 12 and seemed likely to pull away.

The situation was looking bleak for the Rockets, but the next two minutes saw a crucial momentum shift.

The NR-S offense suddenly scored 6 points in quick succession, and the score after one quarter was 10-16 – not great, but the offense had finally shown signs of life.

NR-S capitalized on that momentum in the second quarter, and this time managed to keep pace with the Hornets. As the teams entered their locker rooms for halftime, the score was knotted up at 29-29.

Unfortunately for NR-S, quarter number three would be reminiscent of the first, as H/WC jumped out to their largest lead of the game.

They boasted a 12-point advantage with just 1:35 remaining before the fourth quarter, and once again seemed to be cruising towards victory.

In those next 95 seconds, however, the Rockets came roaring back yet again, rattling off several critical baskets in the final seconds, including a 3-pointer from Easton Benz with just 1.9 seconds before the end of the quarter.

And just like that, the Hornets' lead had been cut down to just three points going into the fourth quarter, at 42-45.

That advantage remained fairly steady for much of the fourth quarter, and with under two minutes left in regulation the Hornets held a 47-51 lead.

That is until the NR-S sophomore Easton Simon took over.

With just 1:45 left on the clock, Simon shot a clutch contested jumper from beyond the arc, bringing his teams' deficit to just 1 point. He then tied the game soon after from the foul line, bringing the score to 51-51.

Then, the scoring suddenly stopped until just seconds were left in regulation, largely thanks to self-inflicted errors from the Hornets, as several bad passes turned into easy turnovers.

But the Rockets couldn't capitalize despite multiple opportunities to do so, and with just 5.9 seconds left in regulation the Hornets had possession with a chance to win it.

First, however, they had to inbound the ball.

Knowing they needed a steal, the Rockets went into full press, and as a Hornet player attempted to inbound the ball from his teams' baseline, it was Simon who managed to jump the route and steal the basketball.

He then wisely passed it to an open Luke Yri under the rim, who cashed in the clutch layup.

The buzzer sounded almost immediately after, earning the Rockets a thrilling come-from-behind victory and a ticket to the championship game on Saturday, Dec. 16.

Waiting for them was North Prairie, who had taken care of Dunseith and Rugby in their first two matchups of the tournament.

NR-S managed to keep pace for most of the first half, but the Cougars began pulling away just before halftime, and went into the locker room with a 27-20 advantage.

The Cougars carried over that momentum into the second half, and displayed plenty of accuracy from 3-point range. The Rockets, meanwhile, simply turned ice cold.

Their accuracy was particularly bad in the fourth quarter, in which it took NR-S until the waning seconds to score their first points of the quarter.

The final score would end up being 32-49 in the Cougars' favor – a sour end to what was otherwise a stellar tournament for NR-S.

The Rockets will now enjoy a holiday break before their next contest, which will be a rematch against Harvey/Wells County in Fessenden on Thursday, Dec. 28.

CNDC Round 1

Boys' Basketball

NR-S 71, St. John 50

Thursday, Dec. 14

in Harvey

NR-S: 18 17 22 14 - 71

St. John: 11 13 12 12 - 50

NR-S: Bennett Meier 18, Ashton Reimche 16, Easton Simon 13, Kailar Jacobson 10, Kage Walford 6, Easton Benz 5, Luke Yri 3. Totals: 22 FG, 4-8 FT, 10 fouls. 3-pointers: Benz 3, Simon 2.

St. John: Simon LaRocque 14, Ashton Parisien 11, Cashmyn Belgarde 9, Ezekiel Parisien 6, Madden Parisien 4, Tayden Longie 3, Harvey Peltier 2, Jaxon Charbonneau 1. Totals: 21 FG, 3-8 FT, 14 fouls. 3-pointers: Larocque 2, Longie 1, Belgarde 1, A. Parisien 1.

CNDC Semifinal

Boys' Basketball

NR-S 53, H/WC 51

Friday, Dec. 15

in Harvey

NR-S: 10 19 13 11 - 53

H/WC: 18 13 16 6 - 51

NR-S: Simon 22, Benz 11, Meier 8, Yri 4, Reimche 4, Jacobson 2, Walford 2. Totals: 31 FG, 8-14 FT, 9 fouls. 3-pointers: Benz 1.

H/WC: Teagan Tipton 12, Avery Williams 12, Tallen Thorson 10, Keaton Keller 8, Noah Ziegler 6, Tyler Swang 3. Totals: 19 FG, 4-8 FT, 11 fouls. 3-pointers: Tipton 4, Williams 2, Ziegler 2.

CNDC Championship

Boys' Basketball

NR-S 32, NP 49

Saturday, Dec. 16

in Harvey

NR-S: 10 10 9 3 - 32

NP: 13 14 12 10 - 49

NR-S: Simon 10, Benz 6, Meier 6, Reimche 4, Jacobson 4, Yri 2. Totals: 13 FG, 5-6 FT, 14 fouls. 3-pointers: Simon 1.

North Prairie: Nate Tastad 16, Carter Casavant 14, Kade Mitchell 8, Blake Mattson 6, Jonathan Mears 3, Isaac McCloud 2. Totals: 20 FG, 4-9 FT, 11 fouls. 3-pointers: Casavant 3, Mitchell 2.