The Minot North boys basketball team hosted the Mandan Braves in Western Dakota Association (WDA) play on Saturday, January 4, at Minot North high school. The Braves overcame a tight contest in the first half to take the 83-71 win on the road.

In an evenly fought first half, Mandan held the 37-36 lead going into the break. The Braves used an 11-point edge in the second half to keep pace with Bismarck Century and Minot High atop the WDA standings at 3-0 in conference and 6-0 overall.

Minot North drops to 0-3 in WDA play and 2-4 overall.

Both teams were evenly matched in 2-point shooting with Mandan holding the slight edge of 24-for-39 shooting compared to 21-for-40 by Minot North. The 3-point shooting is where the Braves had more success with 11-for-28 from the arc compared to 6-for-29 for the host team.

The Sentinels shot just over 52-percent from the freethrow line compared to 50-percent by the Braves. Mandan also had the edge in transition points at 22 compared to nine for Minot North.

Brayden Blikre led scoring for the Sentinels with 17 points, five rebounds with one steal and one assist in the effort. Kaiden Helm added ten points and seven rebounds for Minot North. Traydon Bachmeier had nine points while Tamari Carter, Camden Aufforth and Carson Sessing each added eight points in the game. Every player on the roster scored in the game for the Sentinels.

Minot North heads to Bismarck Century on Tuesday, January 7, and then hosts cross town rivals- and WDA leaders Minot High- on Friday, January 10, for the games this week.