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ORCS BBB survives Nedrose, wins 54-45

JImmy Lafakis/MDN ORCS sophomore guard Zach Hendrickson (20) slaps hands with head coach Brody Bosch after the first quarter of Friday's semifinal contest against Nedrose in Velva. The Knights defeated the Cardinals 54-45.

VELVA — Zach Hendrickson’s mission is simple.

The Our Redeemer’s (2-0) sophomore point guard finished with a game-high 15 points during Friday’s first Velva Tournament semifinal contest against Nedrose (1-1). The Cardinals made life difficult for the Knights, but Hendrickson led ORCS to a 54-45 win.

“I’m just trying to be a point guard,” Hendrickson said. “That’s what I want to be. I want to give my teammates open looks and get wins. That’s all that matters.”

The sophomore played with poise, getting to the rim almost at will. Hendrickson cashed in on outside shots and played defense with purpose.

The Knights needed to counter the Cardinals’ height. ORCS’ path to victory went through the boards, and the Knights crashed the glass with aplomb.

“That’s one thing we stressed,” ORCS head coach Brody Bosch said. “We had to box those big guys out. They’re a very good rebounding team, and we did a good job of keeping them off the glass tonight.”

ORCS forced Nedrose to play catch-up throughout the entire game. The Knights led after every quarter.

Hendrickson spearheaded the cat-and-mouse affair. He raced around the court, battling with Nedrose senior guard Jethro Lauren.

“They’ve got some great guards on that team,” Hendrickson said. “(Lauren), I think he’s one of the best in the region. He’s very quick off the dribble and hard to guard.”

Hendrickson continued to bestow praise on his opponent.

“It’s fun, I love playing against him,” he said. “He’s just a dynamic guard who can finish at the rim so well. He’s got a great pull-up jumper going left.”

The game was never out of reach, but the Knights always kept the Cardinals at bay. Lauren finished with a team-high 13 points in the loss.

“We still have a lot of growing to do,” Bosch said of the Knights. “We made a lot of strides last year. But like I’ve said before, we’ve got to get over that. All the success from last year, we have to move on from it. We’ll pretty much restart and get back to our fundamentals.”

Five Knights scored, but two players joined Hendrickson in double figures. ORCS senior forward Landon Lang scored 13 points, while junior guard William Sanders contributed 11.

The Knights converted six 3-pointers, while the Cardinals made three shots from behind the arc.

“We’ve got some athletes,” Nedrose head coach Matt Norby said. “We’re going to be quick. We’ll figure out some defense. We’ve just got to learn to execute a little better. There’s a few things we’ve got to clean up in transition. Get some easy buckets and get our gap control under control.”

Nedrose will face South Prairie (2-1) in today’s third-place game at 4:30 p.m., while ORCS will take on Underwood (2-0) in the championship game at 6 p.m.

Jimmy Lafakis covers Minot High School sports and Class B high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @JJLII30.

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