Kari Gibb/MDN Velva Aggie Ben Schepp (23) drives and passes the ball against MLS Mavericks Drayson Johnson (13) and Reyden Beck (3) in the final quarterfinal game of the day on Friday, February 28.

The District 6 Boys Basketball Tournament tipped off on Friday, February 28, at the Minot Auditorium with tons of intrigue. The standings for the seeding came down to tie-breakers between the top three teams.

Our Redeemer’s ended up with the top seed with Westhope-Newburg at the two spot and Bishop Ryan at No. 3 for the postseason play. While the seeding was administrative by nature, the path to the semifinals was all about the games played.

In the lower bracket, the Knights played the Mustangs while the Aggies took on the Mavericks.

No. 1 Our Redeemer’s 85, No. 8 Surrey 26

The lower bracket started as the upper bracket play had- no upsets in the first quarterfinal game between the top seed and the No. 8 Mustangs.

The Surrey Mustangs had upset on the mind while the Knights had full court pressure defense as their primary goal to start the game. Each team had to play through first quarter jitters with Our Redeemer’s finding the groove first as the Knights built a 7-2 lead prompting a Surrey timeout at the 5:09 mark.

Defensive effort led to points for the rest of the first quarter for Our Redeemer’s. While Surrey did find their groove as the first wound down, the Knights led 19-9 to start the second quarter of play.

Both teams started the second where they left off at the end of the first quarter. The edge in shooting success for Our Redeemer’s gave the Knights the 40-19 lead going into the halftime break.

The second half picked up where the first half ended – the edge in shooting percentage went to Our Redeemer’s in the first minutes of play for the third quarter. The 50-19 lead off the 10-0 run by the Knights prompted a Surrey timeout to regroup.

Our Redeemer’s continued the shooting exhibition enroute to the 64-24 lead going into the final quarter of play. The Knights outscored Surrey 24-5 after the halftime break in the third quarter of play.

The 80-26 lead by Our Redeemer’s prompted bench rotation for the Knights at the 3:21 mark enroute to the win.

Our Redeemer’s were led by Wyatt Weekly with 22 points while his brother Jace added 18 in the win. Jayden Marshal had 12 in the game and Gus Inglehard posted ten for the Knights.

Colin Vollmer had 12 points for Surrey in the game.

The Knights will face the Aggies in the second semifinal match on Monday, March 3, while the Mustangs will play the Mavericks in the consolation bracket on Monday at the Minot Auditorium.

No. 4 Velva 60, No. 5 Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood 44

The will of the Aggies was too much compared to the desire of the Mavericks in the final quarterfinal game of day one for the District 6 Boys Basketball Tournament on Friday, February 28, at the Minot Auditorium.

Velva won the tip, had a 4-0 run to start the game with Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood (MLS) finding the basket at just under the five minute mark to score and just under the four minute mark to tie the game at 4-4.

At the 1:20 mark of the first quarter, MLS took the 8-7 lead in a see-saw battle between the fourth and fifth seeds in the tournament. While there was no clear advantage or momentum shifts, Velva hit back to back 3-point shots to end the first quarter with the 15-8 lead to start the second.

The Aggies began a run at the very end of the first quarter of play and continued that 10-0 run to an 18-8 lead before the Mavericks got back on track.

MLS narrowed the gap with a chance to pull within two. Missed free throws let the momentum stay with Velva as the Aggies built a 34-19 lead into the halftime break.

Velva kicked off the third quarter with an intense press defense, but MLS found the offense quickly and started the second half with a 6-0 run over the Aggies.

After a Velva timeout and basket, MLS had another 5-0 run to narrow the game again. The third quarter ended with the Aggies in front 41-38 with one quarter to play.

The fourth quarter started with Velva applying the press defense again. The defensive effort wrestled the momentum away from MLS to even the game energy as the clock ticked.

The 3-point shooting, steals and second chance points by Velva put the Aggies up 53-38 with 4:03 left to play with the second semifinal seat on the line.

Velva was led by Reggie Bruner with 15 points, nine from 3-point shooting. Cooper Kittleson, Reese Steffen and Ben Schepp each added 11 points for the Aggies while Mason Kraft had nine in the game.

MLS was led by Eli Undlin posted 17 points while Frady Nett added nine and Carson Nett seven in the effort.

Velva will play Our Redeemer’s in the second semifinal and final game of the day on Monday, March 3, while MLS will face Surrey in the consolation bracket in the second game on Monday