BISMARCK-Hillsboro-Central Valley took the first step toward a successful title defense at the North Dakota state Class B boys basketball tournament Thursday. And it was a big step.
The top-seeded Burros held off gritty Beulah 55-50 in a first-round game at the Bismarck Event Center. It was the 17th straight win for the Burros (24-1).
Carson Henningsgard scored a game-high 27 points to lead Hillsboro-CV. He was 10-for-10 from the line, including 6-for-6 in the last 4:03 to keep Beulah from retaking the lead.
Jack Camrud had 10 points and 13 rebounds for the Burros
Henningsgard said it was defense and not offense that was the difference down the stretch.
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"We just locked down on defense at the end," Henningsgard said. "We played good defense and defense is our bread and butter."
The Burros held Beulah to 37 percent shooting in the second half, while themselves shooting just 30 percent.
Every shot was important over the last two quarters. Through 10 minutes of back-and-forth basketball, every basket or pair of free throws tied the game or was a lead change.
Beulah set the pace in the first quarter behind Jacob Weigel, who drained three 3-pointers on his way to 11 points. Trey Brandt added a fourth 3-pointer and Beulah led by as many as nine points before settling for a 17-13 lead.
Henningsgard helped the Burros rally from an early nine-point deficit to forge a 30-30 tie at halftime. He had 12 points in the second quarter and 16 at the half.
Derek Ferebee had just five points in the first half but he scored eight of Beulah's 10 points in the third quarter to offset 3-pointers by Guy Suchor and Henningsgard. Ferebee finished with a team-high 16 points.
Every made shot in the third quarter was a lead change or tied the game, and that carried over to the fourth.
Landen Reed's back-to-back 3-pointers-his only points of the game-broke that streak and gave the Burros a 48-44 lead with 6:06 to play.
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Logan Miller's driving one-handed jumper with 4:29 left tied the game for the last time at 48. Miller ended with 14 points.
Henningsgard had six free throws down the stretch and Beulah did not score from the field in the last 4:28 of the physical game.
"Beulah's a great team," Henningsgard said. "(Ferebee) is a great player. They ran their offense around him. We had to shut him down."
Ferebee missed two 3-pointers in the frantic last seconds.
