Kari Gibb/MDN Minot High senior Carter Coleman (17) battles with a Bismarck Century defender behind the net for the puck in the first period of play in the West Region Boys Hockey Championship game on Saturday, February 22, at Maysa Arena.

The Minot High boys hockey team capped off their nearly perfect season with a 5-1 win in the final game at the West Region Boys Hockey Tournament on Saturday, February 22, at the Maysa Arena over the second seeded Bismarck Century Patriots.

The contest started fast and physical in the first period of play with no scores despite the power play opportunity for the Magicians on the Patriots penalty in the first. Minot High had 15 shots on goal in the first period while Century tallied six shots.

With only 33-seconds gone at the start of the second period of play, Aidan Diehl scored on a power play goal with Mackley Morelli on the assist for the 1-0 lead. At the 8:35 mark, Morelli tacked on his own goal, an unassisted even strength shot for the 2-0 Magicians lead.

Minot High kept the offense going in the second period with Paxton Packulak on the power play goal while Carter Coleman got the assist for the 3-0 lead. Century scored their lone goal of the game at the 14:52 mark of the second.

Cole Richarson found the net at the 16:59 mark as the second period ended with Jayce Lemon and Rylan Roteliuk on the assists. The even strength goal gave the Magicians the 4-1 lead to start the third period of play.

Minot High had 13 shots on goal in the second compared to three for the Patriots. Century again had one penalty in the second period of play.

At the 16:28 mark of the third period of play, Coleman found the net on the even strength and unassisted goal for the final score of the game. Century had 11 shots on goal compared to ten for the Magicians in the third period and Minot High had both penalties in the third period as well.

Devon Keller worked the net for Minot High and had 19 saves on the 20 shots he faced. The Magicians had the 38-20 shots on goal advantage for the game.

Minot High will be the top seed from the west at the NDHSAA State Boys Hockey Tournament with the first game against Fargo Davies on February 27 at 5:30 p.m. Century will face West Fargo at 2:30 p.m. in their quarterfinal contest.

Bottineau-Rugby 3, Jamestown 2

The Braves scored two goals in the first and one in the second period of play to take the win over the Blue Jays and will make the trip to the state tournament on February 27.

The Blue Jays had 27 shots on goal compared to 25 for the Braves, but Bottineau-Rugby made their shots count by one more in the win.

Casey Freeman, assisted by Khaliel Abdurrahman, put the Braves on the scoreboard at the 55-second mark of the first period. Jamestown added their score at the 5:20 mark to tie the game at 1-1.

Grady Glasner scored for Bottineau-Rugby at the 9:37 mark with assists going to Bryan Bohl and Gavin Bartsch for the 2-1 lead.

Brody Nordmark scored at the 11:22 mark of the second period with Tukker Fedje on the assist for the only score in the second. Jamestown scored at the 5:34 mark of the third period for the 3-2 final score.

Neither team had penalties in the first period of play while each had one in the second period and Jamestown had one penalty in the third period. All goals scored were even strength goals by both teams.

Mason Lynnes worked the net for the Braves and stopped 25 of the 27 shots he faced. Bottineau-Rugby will face Grand Forks Central in the quarterfinal round of the state tournament at noon on February 27.

Mandan 4, Bismarck Legacy 2

The Mandan boys worked their way into the state tournament via the consolation bracket win over the higher seeded Sabers.

Neither team scored in the first period of play while Mandan had two scores in the second. Both teams scored twice in the third period of play giving Mandan the win. The Braves had the shooting edge 21-16 over the Sabers while Legacy had only one penalty compared to two for Mandan.

The Braves will face Grand Forks Red River at the 7:30 p.m. quarterfinal game on February 27.