GRAND FORKS – Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg was supposed to play its North Dakota Class B Region 2 quarterfinal game against Park River/Fordville-Lankin on Monday.
Mother Nature had other ideas. The game was postponed until Tuesday, while the other three tournament quarterfinals went on as planned.
The delay didn’t seem to have an effect on the Patriots, who rolled to a 43-21 win over Park River/Fordville-Lankin on Tuesday night at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
May-Port, however, now has a quick turnaround as it is scheduled to play No. 2 seed Thompson on Wednesday afternoon in the semifinal round.
“I really don’t know how it’s going to be, to have this game tonight and come back right away tomorrow afternoon,” said May-Port coach Sean Moore. “I guess we’ll find out together. I don’t think it should affect us that much.We’ve got some athletes who are ready to play at the drop of a hat.”
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May-Port, the No. 3 seed, improved to 14-8 overall. The Patriots built a big lead early, leading 13-5 after the first quarter and 28-11 at halftime.
“The defense set the tone for us in the first half,” said Moore. “It takes a little while to get used to this gym. It took us a little while on offense. Luckily, we were able to get some good looks at the basket from not too far away. And we were able to knock down a few open shots from the outside.”
Thompson downed May-Port 61-34 during the regular season.
“We need to be more disciplined on defense,” said Moore, looking ahead to the semifinal round. “And we need to value possessions a lot more than we did tonight.”
Maysa Larson led the Patriots with 12 points while Rylee Satrom added 11 and Danica Hanson 6.
Park River/Fordville-Lankin was led by Hanna Larson’s 6 points. The Aggies closed out their season at 9-13.
In Wednesday’s first semifinal, Grafton, the No. 1 seed and defending state Class B champion, will meet Cavalier.
The semifinal winners will play for the title on Thursday night.
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Thompson has played in the past four Region 2 title games, while Grafton has played in the past three championship matchups.
The state Class B tournament is scheduled for March 3, 4 and 6 at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
