WAHPETON, N.D.-Injuries forced Race Kath into the role as student manager his freshman and sophomore seasons at Hankinson High School. Heading into this, his junior year, he hadn't played an organized basketball game since eighth grade.
He's making up for lost time. The Pirates forward came off the bench for 14 points and Hankinson dethroned the defending North Dakota Class B Region 1 boys basketball champions in Northern Cass. The 72-69 win at Ed Werre Arena sends the Pirates to Tuesday night's semifinals at 7:30 against Richland.
Kath's role on the team now? It doesn't necessarily include scoring.
"Get a rebound, play some defense and once in awhile make a shot," he said.
Coming back from a torn ACL and shoulder injuries made his contributions even sweeter.
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"The manager the last two years-waterboy," he said. "It feels good to be out here."
It wasn't looking good for Hankinson in the first half when the Jaguars threatened to run away from the Pirates. It was 15-4 at just over the halfway point of the first quarter before Hankinson started clawing back. But seven straight points by Northern Cass to start the second quarter made it 25-12 and the Pirates were looking for answers.
The found one in senior Cody Mauch, who had a massive double-double with 20 points and 25 rebounds. They found another in Kath, who scored 10 of his points in the second quarter. Nick Mauch added nine in the quarter and it was 33-all at halftime.
"It helps to get points off your bench," said Hankinson head coach Mike Gaukler of Kath. "The last month he's progressed a lot better. He's a big, muscular kid and now he's finally back in his junior year."
There wasn't much separation after that. Hankinson forged leads of 55-49 and 58-51 in the fourth quarter, the latter with 4:44 remaining. The Jaguars, however, turned it up a notch on defense.
Logan Nelson, who finished with 30 points, hit three free throws and a bucket to pull his team within two. Hankinson didn't panic. Field goals by Cody Mauch and Ryan Biewer and two free throws from Nick Mauch expanded the lead to 68-60 with 1:24 left.
"We needed to get Nick to the line," Gaukler said.
Northern Cass, meanwhile, went cold for a bit until Nelson took over on virtually every possession in the final minute. He hit three free throws after being fouled on a trey and two jumpers that sandwiched a Hankinson turnover and it was 71-69.
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Nick Mauch made 1 of 2 free throws, giving the Jaguars one last shot. But Nelson's 3-pointer was contested by the 6-foot-5 Cody Mauch and hit the rim and fell away.
Nick Mauch finished with 26 points.
"We needed to get the ball to our best two players," Gaukler said. "And we did that tonight."
With a nice assists from Kath, also.
H 12 33 47 72
NC 18 33 46 69
H: C. Mauch 20, Biewer 4, Falk 6, N. Mauch 26, Round 2, Kath 14.
NC: Bohmert 15, Leahy 8, N. Nelson 9, L. Nelson 30, Slinger 3, Jensen 4.
