G-M ousts Oakes in District 5 loser-out; fall to Ellendale

Despite the best shooting efforts of Oakes’ Noah Sundby in the first half, the Griggs/Midkota Titans were undeterred in their pursuit of one more game.

Sundby hit all five of his three-point shot attempts in the first half, and finished with 20 points and one more trifecta for six total to lead the Tornadoes.

However, it wasn’t enough, as the Titans took a 57-47 win in loser-out action Monday afternoon, February 27, at the District 5 Tournament in Jamestown.

Titan junior Kyle Johnson’s 14 points were part of a very balanced effort for G-M. The 57-point total also included 12 points by Eli Larson and 10 from Wyatt Spickler, and Latrell Rainey was a beast on the boards with 13 rebounds while scoring nine.

Roddek Schmit had 10 points and a team-best eight rebounds for the Tornadoes, whose season came to a close at 4-17. Trey Skoglund contributed nine points and six rebounds, and had all seven of Oakes’ assists in defeat, many of those going towards Sundby threes.

G-M advanced to play Ellendale (18-2 on the court, 11-9 officially on account of seven forfeit losses) in the Region 3 qualifier last Tuesday. The top-seeded Cardinals were upset in the semifinal round by LaMoure/Litchville-Marion, 59-51.

The Titans felt the full brunt of Ellendale’s perimeter shooting prowess, and their season came to an emphatic conclusion with an avalanche of 15 Cardinal three-pointers in a 77-49 loss.

Point leaders for G-M were Spickler with nine, and Johnson and James Woodstead with seven. Ellendale’s Riley Thorpe scored 25 points in the runaway triumph, and others with big showings included Mason Molan (17 points) and Anton Geller (16).

Thorpe and Molan each canned five treys in the win for Ellendale, who took the number three seed for District 5 at Region 3.

Boxscores from the qualifier will be published in next week’s Independent.

Following the game, Brady Haugen, out for the year with an injury, was named to the All-District 5 regular season team for Griggs/Midkota.

The Titans finished the year at 9-13 overall, and will lose five seniors to graduation. Leaving the program are Spickler, Carter Spitzer, Larson, Benjamin Edland and Brady Anderson.

District 5 Boys’ Basketball

Tournament, Jamestown

Loser-Out

Griggs/Midkota 57, Oakes 47

G-M 12 8 13 24 57

Oakes 9 14 6 18 47

Griggs/Midkota: Kyle Johnson 14, Eli Larson 12, Wyatt Spickler 10, Latrell Rainey 9, Carter Spitzer 7, James Woodstead 5. Totals: 18-48 FG, 16-21 FT, 8 fouls. Three-pointers: Johnson, Larson, Wy. Spickler, Spitzer, Woodstead.

Oakes: Noah Sundby 20, Roddek Schmit 10, Trey Skoglund 9, Xavier Vossler 4, Joseph Heim 2, Max Walock 2. Totals: 17-49 FG, 4-7 FT, 17 fouls. Three-pointers: Sundby 6, Schmit 2, Skoglund.

Griggs/Midkota Additional Stats

Rebounds: Rainey 13, Johnson 6, Larson 5, Spitzer 3, Wy. Spickler and Woodstead 2, Will Spickler and Isaac Stadler 1.

Assists: Larson 2, Wi. Spickler and Wy. Spickler 1.

Steals: Rainey and Wy. Spickler 2, Johnson, Spitzer and Woodstead 1.

Blocks: Larson and Rainey 1.

Oakes Additional Stats

Rebounds: Schmit 8, Skoglund and Walock 6, Sundby 4, Vossler 2, Chris Titus 1.

Assists: Skoglund 7.

Steals: Vossler 2, Schmit, Skoglund and Sundby 1.

Blocks: Walock 2, Skoglund 1.