James Jackson/MDN South Prairie-Max eighth grade guard Rylee Routledge (1) fueled the Royals to their first District 12 championship game in school history on Friday night at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

Intent on replicating the outcome of their 54-25 road victory nearly a month ago, the No. 1-seed South Prairie-Max Royals entered Friday evening’s semifinal encounter with No. 4-seed Surrey set on making basketball history repeat itself as both teams looked to punch their ticket to the District 12 Girls’ Basketball Tournament championship game.

After knocking off No. 5-seed Bishop Ryan to break a three-game losing streak on the opening night of the District 12 tourney, the No. 4-seed Surrey Mustangs (10-11 overall, 5-4 District 12) faced an even greater adversary in the form of the No. 1-seed South Prairie-Max Royals (16-4 overall, 7-0 District 12), who parlayed a highlight-filled night for eighth-grade guard Rylee Routledge into a 59-42 victory and a chance to play for the District 12 title.

Following a wire-to-wire barn burner between the Berthold Bombers and the Glenburn Panthers that came down to the final shot of the contest, both the hardwood floor in the Minot Municipal Auditorium and the fervent fans in attendance were primed and ready for a heavyweight battle between two of the District 12’s best throughout the regular season.

Controlling the tip, South Prairie quickly attacked Surrey’s 2-3 zone defense, penetrating the lane before kicking it outside the arc to sophomore guard Amy Mikkelson to put the first points of the game on the board and open up a 3-0 lead for the Royals.

Utilizing their trademark full-court press, the Royals wasted no time in testing the Mustangs’ backcourt, yet Surrey stayed cool under pressure, breaking the defense and converting an interior pass to senior center Amelia Hoffman into two points to narrow the South Prairie advantage to 8-5 approaching the end of the first quarter.

Nevertheless, staying true to a theme readily evident in Thursday’s quarterfinal round, Royals freshman phenom Skotti Beck came out of the gates as a force on both sides of the ball, putting together a number of impact plays to push the South Prairie edge to 15-9 heading into the next eight minutes of play.

Throughout the second quarter, both teams leaned heavily on half-court sets as the foundation of their offense, seeing passing and rebounding grow increasingly more important to successful scoring possessions.

Free throws by Royals eighth grade guard Rylee Routledge eventually swelled her team’s lead to double-digits at 25-13, as South Prairie poured on the points in the final five minutes to enter halftime with a 35-17 advantage.

Coming out from the break, the lethal South Prairie one-two scoring punch of Routledge and Beck remained locked in, turning seemingly every offensive opportunity for the Royals into points on the scoreboard.

Despite a deep three by Mustangs sophomore center Sienna Klimpel to beat the buzzer at the end of the third quarter, Surrey found themselves in dire straits with only eight minutes of action left in the contest down 45-29.

Never looking back throughout the entirety of the fourth quarter, the Royals stayed focused on the prize, converting balanced efforts on both ends of the court into South Prairie’s first trip to the District 12 finals with a 59-42 victory.

Riley Routledge’s 20 points paced South Prairie in the win, along with 11 points each for Amy Mikkelson and Skotti Beck, six points for Abby Mikkelson, four points for MaKya Gerding, three points for Brooklyn Mosser, and two points apiece for Azjiah Trader and Myah Rau.

For Surrey, Sienna Klimpel collected a team-high 13 points, along with six points for Avery Cree, five points each for Harli Dickman and Melissa Dougan, four points apiece for Amanda Severson and Amelia Hoffman, three points for Ava Keller, and two points for Morgan Anderson.

When asked what the mindset is heading into Saturday’s District 12 championship game, South Prairie-Max head coach Tanner Mosser said, “We have one job. We’re not worried about anything but taking home the win. That’s our sole focus.”

Today will see Our Redeemer’s challenge South Prairie-Max for the District 12 title, Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood against Des Lacs-Burlington at 4 p.m., and Berthold take on Surrey.