FARGO — The Northern Cass girls basketball team lost 10 straight games to finish out the regular season.
Now, the Jaguars are one win away from the state tournament.
Behind a 30-point effort from senior Haidyn Crockett, No. 6 seed Northern Cass upended No. 2 Kindred 69-54 Tuesday during the North Dakota Division A, Region 1 girls basketball tournament semifinals at Scheels Center inside Sanford Health Athletic Complex.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
Junior Tess Jalbert chipped in with 20 points for the Jaguars, who outscored the Vikings 26-10 in the final eight minutes to pull away.
Northern Cass (9-15) moves onto Thursday’s Region 1 championship game against top-seeded Valley City (20-2), with tipoff slated for 20 minutes after Thursday’s third-place contest at 1 p.m.
In the third-place game, Kindred (18-5) will square off with No. 5 seed Wahpeton (10-13). The winner will advance to a state qualifying game on Saturday, March 1.
It’s the fourth straight year the Jaguars have advanced to the region final. This year, against all odds.
“Obviously, the regionals are like a fresh start,” said Crockett, who is now 27 points shy of the Northern Cass all-time scoring record set by her sister Halle. “We knew we just had to come together, and we did (tonight) and these last few nights.”
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
A switch has suddenly been flipped for the Jaguars, who fell to the same Kindred team twice in the regular season. Most recently, a 57-33 defeat to the Vikings on Feb. 3.
“The thing about (the losing streak) is that we’ve been in some games, we just couldn’t finish against some good teams,” Northern Cass head coach Kyle Morehart said. “Of course, winning (tonight) was unbelievable. But our girls have believed all season and have kind of come together.
“And when you have the Crockett factor, she’s going to get our points for us when we need it. And then our defense … we just came together at the right time. Tournament action, that’s what it’s all about. Anything can happen and we showed that (tonight).”
Morehart said the board battle and strong defense — particularly in the fourth quarter — were the difference.
“Our defense has been unbelievable and our rebounding,” Morehart said. “Those are the differences. They decided they wanted to do it now, and that’s what they’re doing.”
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
Kindred was led by freshman Siera Nipstad’s 23 points while junior Liza Trenbath added 10.
The Vikings’ six-game win streak was snapped.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
Northern Cass led 14-12 after the opening quarter and 26-22 at halftime. Kindred took a 44-43 lead into the fourth quarter before the Jaguars’ strong finish.
Thursday’s region championship will be a rematch of last year’s final in which Northern Cass topped Valley City 47-36 to advance to its first state tournament since 2005.
The Hi-Liners have won 11 in a row this season.
“We know Thursday is going to be a tough one,” Crockett said. “But it’s just about staying together as a team and knowing we can do it.”
NC: 14 12 17 26
KHS: 12 10 22 10
NC: Crockett 30, Jalbert 20, Husar 8, Olson 7, Rider 2, Laaveg 2.
KHS: Nipstad 23, Trenbeath 10, Rolland 9, Bakko 6, Sanders 4, Sharp 2.
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
Alyssa Goelzer / The Forum
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