James Jackson/MDN No. 5-seed Garrison’s Mia Gehring poured in a game-high 16 points in the Troopers second-half rally to overcome No. 4-seed Kenmare/Bowbells in Thursday’s 45-33

Colliding in the NDHSAA Class B Girls Basketball State Tournament quarterfinal finale, No. 4-seed Kenmare/Bowbells turned to senior leadership in a late-game showdown against No. 5-seed Garrison as they battled it out for a semifinal date with top-seed Thompson.

Despite solid contributions by Kenmare/Bowbells Honkers (22-3) seniors Kate Zimmer and Brenna Stroklund, a third-quarter offensive explosion by the Garrison Troopers (23-2) fueled a second-half rally that culminated in a 45-33 quarterfinal victory and spot in the state-tourney semifinals.

Serving as a senior one-two punch for Kenmare/Bowbells out of the gate, Brenna Stroklund wasted no time in dishing out two beautiful assists to 3-point assassin Kate Zimmer, whose six points in the opening minute of action snowballed quickly into an 11-0 Honkers run.

Garrison’s Cara Schlehr broke the scoring ice for the Troopers at the 5:31 mark, which she followed 16 seconds later by two more points to narrow the Kenmare/Bowbells lead to 13-4 before a Mia Gehring bucket from deep withered the Honkers edge to just two possessions at 13-7 heading into the second quarter.

Continuing their comeback charge, Garrison’s Karli Klein added to their scoring momentum by capping off a 12-2 Troopers run with a layup to push the score to 13-12 in Kenmare/Bowbells’ favor with 4:29 remaining.

Both teams settled into slower, half-court dominated sets on offense heading towards the final minutes of the first half, where physical play on the defensive end kept scoring opportunities at a premium and points in short-supply.

With just 16 seconds remaining until halftime, Gehring launched her fifth 3-point attempt of the day, connecting on an opportunity deep from the right corner to knot the game at 20-20 as the teams headed to their locker rooms.

Bottling their offensive momentum from the first half, Garrison captured their first lead of the game 46 seconds into the second half on a Klein mid-range jumper to give the Troopers a 22-20 advantage.

Pulsing with scoring confidence, the Troopers proceeded to deploy a merciless offensive barrage throughout the third quarter, utilizing a mix of dribble penetration, one-two passes, and locked-in shooting from beyond the arc to unleash a 20-5 run that put them ahead 42-25 with only eight minutes remaining.

Flipping from frenetic offensive to defensive deadlock, the fourth quarter saw the scoring well go dry across the board.

Across the remainder of the contest, Kenmare/Bowbells netted just eight points on buckets by Taya Aufforth and Brea Chrest, while Kaitlyn Zook pocketed the only three points of the quarter for Garrison as the Troopers rallied to capture the 45-33 victory.

Mia Gehring shined in the win for Garrison with a game-high 16 points, followed by 10 points apiece for Cara Schlehr and Karli Klein, six points for Kaitlyn Zook, and three points for Emily Schlehr.

Kate Zimmer, playing on a torn ACL, led the way for Kenmare/Bowbells with 11 points, in addition to seven points each for Brenna Stroklund and Taya Aufforth, three points apiece for Mashae Miller and Brea Chrest, and two points for Alexa Varty.

Punching their ticket to the semifinals, No. 5-seed Garrison aims to take down No. 1-seed Thompson in an 8:15 p.m. matchup today at the MSU Dome.