The Region 1 Boys Semi Finals were just as excited as they were billed with both games coming down to the final buzzer, with the Enderlin Eagles and Kindred Vikings advancing with a chance to punch their ticket to the Class B State Tournament on Thursday.
The Enderlin Eagles were able to hold on and advance against the Oak Grove Grovers, winning 60-53 in a down to the wire game. The Eagles came out firing, scoring the first ten points of the game- but Oak Grove never went away storming back in the second half and taking a lead in the third quarter. When the chips were down however, Oak Grove didn’t have the cards to win. Senior Star Joe Hulbert led all scorers with 23 points and pulled down 20 rebounds including knocking down five of his last six free throws to ice the game. Gus Hulbert also added 21 points to the Eagles win. Outside of those two however, the Eagles shot 6-18 from the field. The difference was free throws. Oak Grove was able to draw fouls, but at the free throw line in the second half, they went home empty handed going 0 for 5. The Grovers were led by sharp shooter Trey Hatfield’s 17. Cody Card had 14 and Trevon Rodriguez had 12 to round out the double digit scorers.
The nightcap saw the Kindred Vikings advancing to the Finals taking down Central Cass 56-53. The Vikings and Squirrels were two of the top teams in Region 1 so it came to no surprise that the game would come down to a last second three at the buzzer. Trailing by three, Central Cass moved the ball around the perimeter and were able to bury a bomb just second after the final buzzer sounded sending Kindred to the Finals and Central Cass to a third place matchup on Thursday. Jaiden Peraza had 18 points and Paul Olson 17 points for the Vikings (19-2). Jake Deutsch 24 pts and 4 steals and 4 rebounds for the Central Cass.
Enderlin and Kindred will face off on Thursday in the Championship game at 7:30pm while Oak Grove and Central Cass will battle for third place at 6pm. Both games can be heard on KBMW 1450.
