Kari Gibb/MDN South Prairie-Max sophomore Rylee Routledge (1) drives between Carrington freshman Aniston Hoornaert (10) and senior Edyn Hoornaert (21) for a shot in the second quarter of the Monday, February 3, contest between the top ranked Lady Royals and the second ranked Lady Cardinals at South Prairie-Max.

Carrington plays in Region 2 of the Division A girls basketball ranks and sits at the No. 2 polling position for the state. The Lady Cardinals traveled west to take on the No. 1 team in the polls.

The South Prairie-Max Lady Royals were ready to welcome the Cardinals with open arms and demonstrate the current difference between being the top team compared to being the number two team in the polls as well as what level of play takes place in Region 3.

The home team took the lead from the first basket and never relinquished that lead on the way to the 69-40 win.

From the opening tip, Carrington was competitive but struggled to get a ball to drop while the hosts had rebounds and shooters touch, and built a 6-0 lead before the Lady Cardinals were able to score. With 2:50 to play in the first quarter of play, the Royals led 10-2 and kept that pace to a 19-5 lead by the end of the first quarter of play.

The visiting Cardinals began to find rhythm and touch to start the second quarter of play. South Prairie-Max led 22-15 with the 10-3 Carrington run when the Royals coaching staff called a timeout to make slight adjustments.

Two minutes later and the adjustments had paid off with South Prairie-Max posting an 8-0 run for the 30-15 lead that extended to the 35-15 lead at the half. The 13-0 run to end the second quarter was the turning point in the contest.

The shooting issues by the visitors combined with the rebounding by the hosts led to a 51-29 lead going into the fourth quarter of play. While the second ranked Cardinals had effort, athleticism and fortitude- that was not enough to pry the momentum from the home team and their student section in the end.

The Lady Royals moved to 16-0 to remain undefeated on the season. South Prairie-Max will host Rugby today and will travel to Des Lacs-Burlington on Friday, February 7, for their games this week.

Carrington drops to 15-2, with their only other loss at Devils Lake to start the season. The Lady Cardinals host Thompson on Thursday, February 6, to close out their week.

Kenmare-Bowbells 75, Ray 29

The Lady Honkers continued their season with a win over the visiting Ray girls team. Kenmare-Bowbells led 13-6 after the first quarter and 34-15 at the half. The halftime adjustments had the hosts outscore Ray 41-14 in the end.

Kenmare/Bowbells was led by Mashae Miller with 16 points while Anne Stroklund added 12 and Taya Aufforth posted ten in the win. The No. 2 ranked Lady Honkers moved to 16-2 with one of the two losses being the first game of the season to the Lady Royals. Kenmare-Bowbells will be at Glenburn on Friday.

Ray was led by Brinlee Cancade sith six and Myia Knox with five in the effort. The Jays dropped to 5-13 and travel to play Berthold on Saturday, February 8.