Wahpeton sophomore Treyton King nearly doubled his season average with 12 points in the Region 1A Quarterfinals, stepping up with key plays down the stretch | Photo by Alexis Petersen
The fourth-seeded Wahpeton Huskies and the fifth-seeded Northern Cass Jaguars delivered a wire-to-wire playoff matchup for the second straight year Monday, with the Huskies hanging on for a 52-49 win in the Region 1A Quarterfinals at North Dakota State University.
Following last year’s triple-overtime thriller which the Huskies also won, 69-62 — game No. 1 of the 2026 tournament lived up to the hype. Northern Cass had a chance to force overtime, but Parker Zieske’s three-point attempt was blocked at the buzzer by Jack Gilbertson.
The game featured 10 lead changes and six ties. Treyton King put Wahpeton up by three with a putback layup in the final moments. Brooks Crockett narrowly missed a three-pointer on the ensuing possession, and the Jaguars tipped the rebound out for another opportunity that was swatted away by Gilbertson.
Brayden Steffens led Wahpeton with a team-high 20 points on 8-of-12 shooting, knocking down all three of his attempts from downtown. Gilbertson followed with 13 points on 5-of-12 shooting and King closed with a dozen points and six rebounds on 6-of-8 shooting. The trio combined for 15 rebounds.
The Huskies backcourt of Jack Gilbertson (14) and Brayden Steffens (10) did their best to slow down game-high scorer Brooks Crockett, who had a look at the game-tying three with five seconds left | Photo by Alexis Petersen
Brooks Crockett led the Jaguars (13-10) with a game-high 22 points on 7-of-14 shooting. Hudson Rietschel also reached double-figures with 13 points.
The Huskies (17-5) advance to play top-seeded Central Cass (16-5) in the semifinals at 6 p.m. Tuesday on AM 1450 and www.kbmwnews.com. The Huskies and Squirrels split their regular season matchups, with Central Cass earning a 61-57 OT win on its home court, and Wahpeton winning 53-50 inside the Dawg Den.
