Alex Eisen/MDN Our Redeemer's eighth-grader Maya Vibeto (10) soars through the air to score a basket Saturday evening in the Nedrose Invitational Tournament championship game. The Knights defeated the Minot High junior varsity team 55-31 to win the title.

Championship games aren’t supposed to be this stress-free.

The Our Redeemer’s girls basketball team started hot, stayed hot and waltzed its way to a 55-31 victory over the Minot High School junior varsity team Saturday evening to win the early-season Nedrose Invitational Tournament.

“The team play tonight was just awesome,” ORCS head coach Scott Peterson said. “Our defense was the key tonight. We only gave them one shot (each possession) — a couple of shots every so often — and on the offensive end, we worked the ball until we got the best shot. I’m proud of our girls.”

By knocking down open shots and enforcing a stout defense, the Knights led 15-9 after the first quarter and never looked back.

“Everybody who I put out on the floor stepped up,” Peterson said. “We hit the open person, and they hit the big shots. That’s team basketball. That’s what we are striving for this year.”

Téa Boeckel added a little extra flair at the end of the first half by making a 3-pointer at the buzzer. ORCS led 37-15 at the break.

“We came out strong and got ourselves a lead,” Boeckel said. “We played hard the rest of the game and just stuck with it.”

Three Knights finished in double figures: Eighth-grader Maya Vibeto (16 points), Boeckel (15) and Hailey Roberts (14).

Roberts, who joined Our Redeemer’s from Nedrose High School, was named the Nedrose Invitational Tournament MVP. She scored 63 points across all three games during the tournament on her former home court.

“It’s a team game, so when we are moving the basketball, they can’t just key in on one person,” Peterson said. “Tonight, that showed. I hope this will spur us into the future. They showed a lot of nice things tonight.”

Minot High had a few players doing double duty on the day, as the varsity team also had a home game Saturday against Dickinson.

The Majettes’ leading scorer was one of those players, Mariah Evenson. After scoring six points in a 56-45 win over Dickinson, Evenson had a team-high six points against Our Redeemer’s.

Alexis Haider and Avery Lunde each added five points for the Majettes.

ORCS last won the Nedrose Invitational Tournament (formerly the Sawyer Invitational Tournament) in 2016. Velva won the last two seasons but didn’t partake this year.

Other results on Saturday in Nedrose included Lewis & Clark-Berthold beating Surrey 49-32 for third place. Hosts Nedrose knocked off Rolette/Wolford 38-20 for fifth place. Powers Lake ran by Lewis & Clark-North Shore Plaza 60-22 for seventh place.

Alex Eisen covers Minot State athletics, the Minot Minotauros and high school sports. Follow him on Twitter @AEisen13.