WAHPETON — No. 3 seed Kindred entered its matchup with No. 2 seed Sargent County in the Region 1 semifinals on Thursday as, technically, an underdog.
Sargent County carried a 19-2 record into the matchup compared to the Vikings' 14-7 mark. Kindred hadn't won more than three games in a row all season while the Bulldogs opened the season with 18 straight wins, including a victory over the Vikings on Jan. 13.
But Kindred handed the Bulldogs their first loss of the season by 10 points on Feb. 18 on the same North Dakota State College of Science court the teams would play on Tuesday. And the Vikings still held the mantle of defending region champ.
So underdog or not, Kindred wasn't about to be fazed by anything Sargent County might throw at them. The Vikings rallied from a 10-point third-quarter deficit and took the last lead of the game on Presley Peraza's dunk with 34 seconds left, eventually besting the Bulldogs 62-58.
The Vikings face No. 1 seed Central Cass (22-0) for the region championship on 7:30 p.m. Thursday at NDSCS.
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Sargent County led 34-30 at the half but quickly built its largest lead of the game with an 8-2 run to open the third quarter for a 42-32 advantage with 5:51 left in the quarter.
But the Vikings buckled down, outscoring the Bulldogs 16-7 the rest of the third. Kindred's Karson Ouse hit a 3-pointer with 1:55 left to make it a four-point game, then drilled another 3 with seven seconds left to make it 49-48 Bulldogs at the end of three.
The teams were never separated by more than three or four points in the fourth. Kindred's Jack Davis rebounded a missed free throw and hit the layup for a 56-55 Kindred lead with 3:45 to play. Sargent County's Nicholas Hanson nailed a 3-pointer for a 58-56 Bulldogs lead with 2:14 left. Davis' jumper with two minutes left tied it 58-58.
What followed was the play of the game, courtesy of Vikings guard Brooks Bakko and Peraza. Bakko dribbled at the top of the key and Peraza, on the block, flashed to the wing on the right side. When the Bulldogs defender overplayed, Peraza cut backdoor and Bakko found him perfectly for a two-hand throwdown and a 60-58 lead with 34 seconds left.
Sargent County worked the ball, couldn't find anything promising and called timeout with nine seconds left. But a miscommunication on the sideout inbounds pass sent the ball into the Bulldogs' backcourt and, eventually, out of bounds with seven seconds left.
Ouse was fouled on the Vikings inbounds and he made both free throws with five seconds to go. Sargent County's last-ditch shot missed the mark at the buzzer.
Davis led the Vikings with 16 points and he had five rebounds. Ouse had 14 points and nine boards, Peraza finished with 13 points and five rebounds and Bakko had 11 points and four rebounds.
Sargent County's Luke Martinson and Josh Wittich both scored 14 points, Gaven Christianson had 13 points and eight rebounds, and Fletcher Willprecht scored 12 points.
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The Trust Project
