FARGO — The fourth-seeded Wahpeton Huskies defeated the seventh-seeded Valley City Hi-Liners in the Region 1A third-place game Thursday to keep their state tournament hopes alive, 64-47.
Wahpeton (18-6) received a combined 50 points from Brayden Steffens and Jack Gilbertson, securing a spot in Saturday’s state-qualifier round against the Region 2A runner-up Grafton Spoilers (17-6) at 3 p.m. on KBMW. The game will take place at North Dakota State University.
Fresh off claiming the Wahpeton boys basketball career scoring record (1,306 points), Steffens scored a game-high 26 while adding five rebounds and five assists. Following the tournament, Steffens was named Region 1A Senior Athlete of the Year.
Gilbertson was dynamite on both sides of the ball, going for 24 points, six assists and seven steals — adding a halftime buzzer-beater.
Bench play was crucial to Wahpeton’s success. Rylan Flack hit a pair of tough fadeaways in the first half. Cooper Koolmo drained both free throws with two seconds left in the first quarter, as Wahpeton built a 17-point lead at the break. Karter Oswalt also played key minutes off the bench, defending the Hi-Liners’ shifty backcourt and blocking a shot down low.
Jack Dieterle led the Hi-Liners (4-18) with 10 points and 13 rebounds, and Miken Mattson added 11 points in the final game of their careers.
