Taming the Jaguars: Cardinal girls defeat Northern Cass

The Carrington girls basketball team is taking advantage of doing a bit of in-person scouting of Region 1 teams they could meet in a hypothetical Division A state tournament play-in situation.

After defeating league leader Valley City earlier this season, the Cards took on the number three team currently in the opposite region's standings, the Northern Cass Jaguars.

With some of their trademark balance and another good night from the stripe, Carrington went home happy about their chances with a 63-55 win over the Jags in Hunter Tuesday night, January 16.

"The girls gave great effort, especially on the offensive boards, to get the road win," Head Coach Andy Braaten said.

A quick glance of the stat sheet validated Braaten's appraisal of his team's performance. Carrington (9-3) finished with 36 total rebounds, 18 of those off misses.

And they needed those putbacks, too, as the team shot only 22-for-72 from the field and had to contend with the Jags' 6'3" inside presence, senior center Josie Jensen.

Jensen finished with 15 points for Northern Cass (9-4), but the combination of the Cards' Madison Johnson and Isabel Wendel finished with 21 of those three dozen boards.

Junior forward Edyn Hoornaert's 14 points, along with three assists and three steals, kept the Cards' flow going steady. Three players had 12 points, Kacie Rexin, Olivia Threadgold and Wendel.

In the fourth quarter, Threadgold's two buckets kept Northern Cass at bay, and the Cards went 10-for-15 at the line in the final quarter and 14-for-19 in the game.

"Olivia hit some clutch baskets down the stretch," said Braaten.

Northern Cass was led by a large statline from Haidyn Crockett, who had 28 points and also hit the team's only trifecta on the evening.

Tuesday, the Cards will have vengeance on their minds when they play Devils Lake in the road portion of their home-and-home Region 2 series. The Firebirds sit at 3-1 in Region play behind first-place Thompson and are identical to the Cards record-wise at 9-3.

On Thursday, Carrington hosts former Region 3 rival M-P-B in an intra-division game at the East Gym.

Nonregion Girls Basketball

Carrington 63, Northern Cass 55

at Hunter

Cgtn. 14 15 16 18 63

N. Cass 10 19 10 16 55

Carrington: Edyn Hoornaert 14, Kacie Rexin 12, Olivia Threadgold 12, Isabel Wendel 12, Madison Johnson 9, Kaydence VanRay 4. Totals: 22 FG, 14-19 FT, 15 fouls. Three-pointers: Hoornaert 2, Rexin 2, Threadgold.

Northern Cass: Haidyn Crockett 28, Josie Jensen 15, Tess Jalbert 6, Addy Winterquist 5, Addy Rust 1. Totals: 23 FG, 10-14 FT, 19 fouls. Three-pointer: Crockett.

Carrington Additional Stats

Rebounds: Johnson 11, Wendel 10, Hoornaert and Rexin 5, Threadgold 3, Kenadie Pazdernik and Brynn Smith 1.

Assists: Wendel 6, Hoornaert 3, Johnson, Rexin and VanRay 1.

Steals: Hoornaert and Rexin 3, Johnson and Threadgold 2, VanRay 1.

Field Goal Percentage: Hoornaert, 6-10 (60%)