WAHPETON, N.D.-Each time Kindred threatened the lead, Richland responded Monday night, March 6, at Ed Werre Arena.
The No. 2-seeded Colts played from ahead over the final three quarters and held off a late Kindred rally to earn a 66-56 victory in the North Dakota Class B Region 1 boys basketball quarterfinals.
"We handle adversity really well as a team," said Richland senior Cooper Lingen, who had 16 points and 13 rebounds. "We sit down, we try not to panic, we talk it over and figure things out."
The Colts (17-4) will play in the region semifinals at 7:30 p.m. Tuesday, March 7. Richland has won nine consecutive games.
"It means the world to us," Lingen said of advancing to the region semifinals.
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Kindred trailed by nine points with three minutes remaining in the fourth quarter before rallying. The Vikings sliced the Richland lead to 53-50 after sophomore Trenton Duchscherer scored off a rebound with 1 minute, 44 seconds to play.
The Colts, however, countered with the next four points, all from the foul line, to push their lead back to three possessions. Freshman guard Cole Myers sank a free throw that gave Richland a 57-50 lead with 1:09 remaining.
"Our defense stepped up near the end there," Richland head coach Jamie Nordick said.
Lingen scored 13 of his game-high point total in the second half to help Richland protect the lead. Lingen was 4-for-4 from the foul line in the game's final two minutes.
"We stepped up at the end and made some free throws," said the 6-foot-2 Lingen.
The Colts had a 24-22 halftime lead, but scored the first seven points after halftime to push the lead to near double digits. Lingen capped that run with a basket in the middle of the lane that gave Richland a 31-22 lead with 6:12 to play in the third quarter.
"That was very important for us," Nordick said. "We needed to come out with a bang there."
Kindred senior Gregory Cramer paced his team with 14 points and eight rebounds. The 6-foot-4 Cramer netted 12 of his points in the second half. Kindred had its season end with a 13-9 record.
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K 9 22 35 56
R 14 24 43 66
K: Zink 9, Duchscherer 4, M. Freier 6, Lingen 13, Benson 8, Cramer 14, Derek Houska 2.
R: Lingen 16, Ihland 9, Myers 15, Lentz 8, Roob 6, Reiland 7, Evanson 5.
