MINOT, ND – We have boys basketball on the air tonight as Parshall/North Shore-Plaza will host Kenmare-Bowbells. Pregame is just past 7 pm on 106.9 K-Heart, khrt.com. and through the Live365 app.

 

Scores from Thursday:

 

 

Class A
#1 Bismarck Cenury def. #3 Bismarck Legacy, 77-60

 

Class B
#1 Kenmare-Bowbells def. #9 Garrison, 61-33
#3 Thompson def. #7 May-Port-CG, 63-39
#4 Central McLean def. New Salem-Almont, 61-23
#7 Central Cass def. #5 Carrington, 65-32
Our Redeemer’s def. Bishop Ryan, 49-17
South Prairie-Max def. Des Lacs-Burlington, 44-36
Berthold def. Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood, 51-36
Surrey def. Glenburn, 62-26
Westhope-Newburg def. Velva, 59-48
Bottineau def. TGU, 46-45
Drake-Anamoose def. Nedrose, 52-36
North Shore-Plaza def. Williston Trinity Christian, 48-44
Powers Lake-Burke Central def. Mandaree, 50-43
Hazen def. Heart River, 40-36
Beulah def. Killdeer, 68-41

 

 

Class A
#1 Bismarck Century def. Bismarck Legacy, 60-55

 

Class B
Rugby def. #7 North Star, 59-48
North Prairie def. St. John, 62-50
Garrison def. Central McLean, 68-41
Wilton-Wing def. Washburn, 78-60
New Salem-Almont def. Max, 54-31
Nedrose def. Drake-Anamoose, 76-73
Tioga def. New Town, 48-25
Powers Lake-Burke Central def. Mandaree, 72-30
Stanley def. Divide County, 49-45 OT

 

High School Boys Hockey
Bismarck Legacy def. Bottineau-Rugby, 10-3
Bismarck Century def. Hazen-Beulah, 8-1
Bismarck High def. Williston, 4-2
Mandan def. Dickinson, 4-3

 

High School Girls Hockey
Williston def. Minot High, 4-1
Fargo North-South def. Jamestown, 5-0

 

High School Boys Wrestling
Bismarck High def. Minot High, 34-28
Jamestown def. Dickinson, 52-19
Watford City def. Turtle Mountain, 39-36
Bismarck St. Mary’s def. Bismarck Century, 37-34

 

High School Girls Wrestling
Minot High def. Bismarck High, 42-33

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MSU MEN’S WRESTLING

 

SIOUX FALLS, S.D. (MSU) – The Beavers got a pair of victories but that was all they could muster Thursday night in an NSIC-opening dual at Augustana. The host Vikings (6-6 duals, 1-0 NSIC) picked up three wins by pins and added two more technical-fall victories, fueling their 37-9 team win over Minot State (5-4, 0-1). The Beavers answered with a 9-3 decision win by Ethan Wonser at 141 pounds, getting them on the board, and Shane Hansen added a win by pin 49 seconds into the third round at heavyweight. James Davis nearly added another victory for the Beavers, battling hard against John Babineau in their 133-pound match only to fall 6-5. The Beavers are back in action Friday, continuing their NSIC-opening road trip in South Dakota as they compete at Northern State at 7 p.m.

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UND WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

 

GRAND FORKS, N.D. (UND) – Kacie Borowicz’s go-ahead bucket with 12 seconds to play capped a late rally by North Dakota and boosted the Fighting Hawks to a 65-63 victory over Omaha on Thursday night at a raucous Betty Engelstad Sioux Center in Grand Forks. UND (10-6, 3-3 Summit League) trailed by three, 63-60, with 2:56 to play, but the NoDak defense held the Mavericks without a point (8-8, 3-2 Summit League) and forced turnovers to complete a 5-0 run and the comeback victory to improve to 8-0 at home this season. Following a Borowicz basket to trim the lead to one, Claire Orth forced a turnover with a steal to give the ball back to the hosts in the final 30 seconds. Despite a giveaway on the offensive end, the North Dakota defense forced a second turnover on the ensuing possession for another chance at the lead. The senior wouldn’t miss a second time, as the league’s top scorer drilled a basket from the elbow to give UND a 64-63 lead with 12 seconds to play. Borowicz was up to her usual ways on the offensive side of the ball, scoring a game-high 18 points while dishing out six assists, grabbing five rebounds and a block in 37 minutes of action. North Dakota looks to make it a weekend sweep against Denver on Saturday afternoon at 1 p.m. from the Betty. 

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NDSU WOMEN’S BASKETBALL

 

FARGO, N.D. (NDSU) – Abby Graham netted a season-high 22 points to help lead the North Dakota State women’s basketball team past Denver, 71-43, on Thursday night at Scheels Center. With the win, NDSU improves to 11-5 (5-1 Summit) on the season, including a 7-0 mark at home. It marks the best start to a home schedule since the 2004-05 season. Graham paced the Bison with a game-high 22 points on 8-of-9 shooting from the field and 3-of-3 from behind the arc. Heaven Hamling also reached double figures in scoring with 13 points to go along with four rebounds and four assists. Emily Behnke rounded out the top performers with a game-high and career-best 12 rebounds. As a team, NDSU shot 50.9 percent (28-55) from the field and a season-best 58.3 percent (7-12) from three with nine different players contributing in the scoring column. The Bison posted 38 points in the paint and the bench netted 41 points.

 

After both teams traded points to begin the contest, NDSU came alive closing the first quarter on a 7-0 run to open up a 22-15 advantage. The Bison carried the energy over starting the second quarter on an 11-1 run to extend their lead to 33-16 following a layup from Graham in the paint with 6:52 to play in the half. NDSU continued to surge stretching their lead up to 22, 44-22, following a triple from Graham with 58 seconds to play in the half. The Bison outscored the Pioneers in the second quarter, 22-10, and led at the intermission, 44-25. NDSU shot a game-best 69.2 percent (9-13) from the field in the second frame. Denver attempted to make a comeback in the third quarter trimming the edge back down to 13, 48-35, after Mikayla Brandon knocked down a triple at the 6:31 mark. NDSU responded to slowly grow its largest lead of the game, 71-43, with 27 seconds to play in the fourth quarter following layup from Rachel Novak. The Bison closed out the rest of the time to earn the 71-43 victory. NDSU has now won five of its last six games and will be back in action hosting Omaha on Saturday. Tip-off is set for 1:00 p.m. at Scheels Center.

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UND MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

OMAHA, Neb. (UND) – North Dakota fell 69-63 Thursday night to the Omaha Mavericks, in a game that was tightly contested throughout. Treysen Eaglestaff led the Fighting Hawks with 13 points while Tsotne Tsartsidze had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds; the first of Tsartsidze’s career. After Omaha jumped out to an 8-4 lead to begin the game, the Hawks went on an 11-2 run—which was started and concluded by a three from Matt Norman to go up 15-10. Norman hit four three pointers in the opening frame to pace the Hawks, who led by as many as nine in the half at 25-16. Hot shooting from Omaha kept the game close as North Dakota went into the locker room with a 31-29 edge. The two teams traded the lead back and forth to start the second half, but a steal and dunk from B.J. Omot began a 10-2 run that propelled the Hawks to a 45-36 lead, capped off with a layup from Eaglestaff. Omaha chipped away with 9:09 to go and took the lead at 50-49. The Mavericks held off the Hawks for the rest of the game. Three Hawks finished in double figures with Eaglestaff leading the way with 13, Norman chipping in 12 and Tsartsidze scoring 11. Tsartsidze also blocked two shots while Eaglestaff had three steals. The Hawks shot 22-for-66 from the field and 9-for-27 from three-point range, six of those treys came in the first half. North Dakota will visit Denver on Saturday to conclude the road trip, with a 2 p.m. (CT) tip off.

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NDSU MEN’S BASKETBALL

 

DENVER, Colo. (NDSU) – The North Dakota State men’s basketball team rolled to a 90-70 victory over the Denver Pioneers on Thursday night, extending its win streak to four games. The Bison improved 4-2 in Summit League play. NDSU never trailed in the game, and led by as many as 27 in the second half. NDSU junior Grant Nelson filled the stat sheet with 17 points, nine rebounds, four blocks, three assists and two steals. Three Bison joined Nelson in double-figure scoring – Jacari White and Boden Skunberg with 15 points apiece, and Damari Wheeler-Thomas with 10. Sophomore forward Andrew Morgan registered a career-high four assists for NDSU. NDSU led 40-34 in the final minute of the first half when Skunberg hit a deep three-pointer at the halftime buzzer. The Bison scored the first seven points of the second half and led by at least 13 the rest of the way. The Bison shot 53 percent for the game, compared to 47 percent for Denver. NDSU has now won 10 straight vs. Denver. The Bison will play at Omaha on Saturday at Noon CT.

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WILD-ISLANDERS

 

NEW YORK (AP) — Frederick Gaudreau, Sam Steel and Kirill Kaprizov scored in the third period to lift the Minnesota Wild to a 3-1 victory against the New York Islanders. Filip Gustavsson made 19 saves for the Wild, who snapped a three-game losing streak in the finale of a two-game road trip. Scott Mayfield scored for New York, and Ilya Sorokin finished with 33 saves. It was the Islanders’ fourth consecutive loss.

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VIKINGS-PLAYOFFS

 

MINNEAPOLIS (AP) — The Minnesota Vikings quickly found their stride under rookie head coach Kevin O’Connell as a confident, close-knit and resilient team — featuring the league’s leading receiver — with an NFL-record 11 wins by eight points or fewer. Just because O’Connell’s career is ascending doesn’t mean this season of strong wills and late-game thrills can be replicated with the current core. The Vikings face eight-figure salary-cap hits in 2023 for eight players, five of them age 30 and older, in a crunch that likely will force the departure of a key player or two. Then there’s the statistical improbability of staying undefeated under O’Connell in one-score games. “NFL stands for ‘not for long,’ and people move on. I kind of felt like this is a special group, and there’s a time sensitivity here where we’ve got to do it now,” quarterback Kirk Cousins said after the Vikings beat the New York Giants on Dec. 24.

 

The playoffs have arrived, starting with a rematch on Sunday against the Giants in the wild-card round. The Vikings (13-4) are back after a two-year absence that triggered the coaching change, eager to prove their viability despite a negative point differential that has fueled external doubts about their legitimacy as a contender in the wide-open NFC. “We can be as dangerous as we want to be,” said Justin Jefferson, whose 1,809 yards and 128 receptions were the sixth and seventh-most of all time. “I feel like we shoot ourselves in the foot the majority of the time when things don’t go our way.” The Giants (9-7-1) are in the playoffs for the first time since 2016, with their own first-time head coach in Brian Daboll. They went 22-59 over the previous five seasons. “To be on the other side of it, it means a lot. It’s about what we do now from this point on and how we handle this opportunity, how we prepare and ultimately how we play,” quarterback Daniel Jones said. “We’re certainly happy we are where we are. But there’s a lot more.”

 

The Giants haven’t had a postseason victory since their Super Bowl championship 11 years ago. They snagged the second of three wild-card spots while playing in the NFL’s strongest division this season, but after winning only two of their last eight games, they largely are being overlooked in the field while likely having to play on the road the entire time they’re alive. “We’re going to be humble about it, and we’re going to go about our work while everybody sleeps on us,” safety Julian Love said. “We take it one week at a time. We know it’s never going to be perfect. We’re going to continue to be who we are.”

 

STAYING GROUNDED

The Giants, who were fourth in the league in rushing, have run for at least one touchdown in a franchise-record 15 straight games. Saquon Barkley’s return to his rookie-year form after a couple of injury-wrecked seasons was one of the catalysts for the turnaround by the Giants, who gave him 352 touches — including a team-high-tying 57 receptions — for the third-most in the NFL. “We know he has a bunch of tools,” Vikings linebacker Eric Kendricks said. “We know that they’re going to give him the ball any way they can.”

 

SECONDARY REINFORCEMENTS

Jefferson had 12 catches for 133 yards and a touchdown and tight end T.J. Hockenson had 13 catches for 109 yards and two scores in the matchup last month, but the Giants have safety Xavier McKinney back from the broken hand that cost him seven games. Cornerback Adoree’ Jackson, who has been sidelined with a knee injury since Nov. 20, could be ready this week as well. “Even when me and Adoree’ are out there, they’re going to make plays,” McKinney said. “When you face another great player, you have to limit them. You can’t really stop them all the way.”

 

IF THE GAME COMES DOWN TO A KICK …

Both teams ought to be confident. Graham Gano was 29 of 32 on field-goal attempts and 32 of 34 on extra points for the Giants. One of his field-goal misses was blocked, and the other was a 58-yarder into the wind on the last play of overtime in the 20-20 tie against Washington on Dec. 4. He scored 119 points and set a team record with eight field goals of 50-plus yards. Greg Joseph gave the Vikings the 27-24 victory three weeks ago with a franchise-record 61-yard field goal as time expired. Though he missed seven field goals (26 for 33) and six extra points (40 for 46), Joseph had a team-record five game-winning field goals this season.

 

CAN’T HEAR YOU

The Vikings will have a handy advantage with the crowd noise at home, where they’re 40-18 since U.S. Bank Stadium opened in 2016. The only NFC team with a better home record since then is Green Bay (45-16-1). The Vikings hosted only one playoff game in their first six years at U.S. Bank Stadium, the “Minneapolis Miracle” win over New Orleans on a last-play touchdown pass in the divisional round after the 2017 season.