Along with raking in 25 points and leading North Prairie in scoring Friday night, senior forward Morgan Leas’ (30) contributions on the defensive end helped punch the Cougars’ ticket to the NIT championship game.

After serving up a smorgasbord of stellar Class B girls’ basketball in the opening nights of play on Monday and Tuesday, the Nedrose Invitational Tournament (NIT) picked up where it left off on Friday as all eight participating teams hit the hardwood for day three of the four-day showdown.

Headlined by North Prairie’s buzzer-beating, barn-burner win over Our Redeemer’s to kick off action on Monday, the first two days of NIT play also witnessed Surrey knocking off Powers Lake/Burke Central, Hazen downing Lewis & Clark North Shore-Plaza, and tournament host Nedrose defeating Lewis & Clark-Berthold, consequently ensuring the winners a spot in Friday night’s semi-final sessions of the tourney.

However, preceding last evening’s games to decide the final two challengers for the NIT championship title, the Our Redeemer’s Knights faced-off against the Powers Lake/Burke Central Ranchers in the opening game of the afternoon consolation bracket session, followed by a battle for Lewis & Clark bragging rights as the North Shore-Plaza (NSP) Wildcats squared-off against the Berthold Bombers, as all four teams set out to control their destiny heading into Saturday’s slate of contests to determine their final place in the tournament standings.

Kicking off the first of four games on the docket for Friday, the aroma of fresh popcorn and the cheers of basketball fanatics filled the Nedrose High School gym as a focused Our Redeemer’s Knights squad looked to get back on track against a Powers Lake/Burke Central Ranchers team angling for a win and a chance to secure a fifth-place tournament finish when the smoke clears on Saturday.

Banking 36 of the Our Redeemer’s 44 total points, the Knights trio of Maya Vibeto, Elise Altringer, and Aubrey Griedl led a three-headed attack that inevitably lassoed a 44-36 win over a rugged Ranchers team.

Putting together a ‘big three’ of their own, Powers Lake was led by the group of Savannah Frederickson, Camryn Rystedt, and Jocelyn Puckett in the loss.

Taking to the court needing a win to claim the right to play Our Redeemer’s for fifth place on Saturday, North Shore-Plaza and Berthold engaged in a Lewis & Clark-themed battle in the second consolation game of the afternoon session.

Dominating from wire-to-wire, the Bombers swelled their lead to 37-8 heading into the half, doubling that number in the second half while holding the Wildcats scoreless in the final 16 minutes of a game filled to the brim with fouls and physical play to claim a 74-8 victory.

Kasey Simons and Mya Nesham paced Berthold in scoring, while Kodi Alford netted four points to lead the Wildcats.

Upon the conclusion of the consolation bracket sessions, the first of the evening’s co-main events began as the North Prairie Cougars looked to hunt down the Surrey Mustangs and punch their ticket to the NIT championship game.

Harnessing the momentum of their thrilling last-second victory over Our Redeemer’s on Monday, the Cougars started the contest building a 5-0 advantage, set in motion by junior forward Lizzy Smith’s successful ‘and-1′ opportunity in the first two minutes of play.

Utilizing crisp perimeter passing to generate a number of high-percentage outside scoring opportunities, North Prairie inflated their lead to 13-4 before Surrey junior guard Kaitlyn Reiter knocked down a deep three to shrink the gap to 13-7 with the first eight minutes of play coming to a close.

Entering the second quarter, both teams’ tempo of play hit top speed, resulting in the squads trading baskets like punches in a telephone booth brawl and the Cougars bursting open a double-digit, 23-13 lead with four minutes left in the first half.

Attempting to narrow the North Prairie advantage, Mustangs senior guard Amanda Severson converted several bold drives to the rim into trips to the charity stripe, yet came up short in transitioning the free throws into points as the teams headed to the locker room with the score 25-18 in the Cougars’ favor.

In stark contrast to the opening minutes of the game, the second half started with a much stiffer defensive tone, exemplified by physical play both in the post and on the outskirts of the perimeter.

Scratching to dwindle the Cougars lead, Mustangs senior forward Harli Dickman set up shop in the paint and converted a flash pass into a basket with less than two minutes in the third quarter to shrink the North Prairie advantage to a two-possession, 27-31 score as the teams headed into the final eight minutes of play.

The beginning of the fourth quarter saw points galore light up both sides of the scoreboard, largely in part due to Cougars senior forward Morgan Leas and the Mustangs’ Dickman, resulting in a 39-39 deadlock with just over five minutes to go in the game.

Unable to generate scoring in the following three minutes, Surrey would see North Prairie make it a two-possession contest heading down the stretch when Smith went to work on the blocks and ratcheted up the score to 45-39.

Refusing to look back, the Cougars cemented a 52-45 victory and subsequent trip to the finals via clutch free throws that padded the North Prairie advantage and insured Surrey’s demise.

Leas tallied a team-high 25 points in the North Prairie win, while Mia Aberle paced nine Surrey scorers with 15 points.

Hitting the court for Friday’s final matchup of the evening, tourney-host Nedrose set their sights on poaching Hazen, in the process locking in the chance to capture the NIT championship on their home court in Saturday night’s tournament finale.

Rallied by an electric student section packed to the gills, a confident Cardinals squad turned the energy surging throughout their gym into points, as sophomore Maecey McKibbin opened up the scoring for Nedrose and gave them the first lead of the game at 3-0.

Continuing to feed off the crowd and their growing momentum, the Cardinals opened up a 17-6 edge before Bison senior Makenna Brunmeier converted an offensive rebound into two points to narrow the Nedrose lead to 17-8 heading into the second quarter.

Stomping the pedal to the scoring floor in the next four minutes of competition, Cardinals junior Kaydee Boyce capped off a beautiful coast-to-coast drive with a crossover and reverse layup to balloon the lead to 25-8 with halftime quickly approaching.

Nevertheless, in a valiant display of their poise, a relentless Hazen unit chipped away at the Nedrose lead, shrinking the gap to 26-16 heading into the final 16 minutes of battle.

Marching out for the second half aiming to solidify their lead on a foundation of stifling defense, the Cardinals faithful would witness first-hand the quick hands and defensive prowess of McKibbin with three minutes remaining in the third quarter when she picked off an errand Hazen pass near mid-court, finishing off the play with a left-handed layup and ballooning the Nedrose advantage to 35-23.

Keeping tourniquet-tight pressure on Hazen on both ends of the court throughout the final two quarters, Nedrose’s balanced play and precise execution eventually swelled their lead to the point of no return for the Bison, sealing the Cardinals 47-29 victory and a shot to bring home the NIT title on their home court for their hometown fans.

Boyce collected a team-high 15 points in the win, followed by 13 points for McKibbin and 11 points by Nedrose sharpshooter Ashley Roberts.

Notching most of her points in the paint in the Bison loss was Brunmeier, leading Hazen with 11 points on the night.

The final day of Nedrose Invitational action will see Nedrose battle North Prairie for the tournament crown at 6 p.m., with Hazen and Surrey squaring off for rights to third place at 4:30 p.m.

Our Redeemer’s will also take on Berthold at 3 p.m., proceeded by North Shore-Plaza and Powers Lake/Burke Central kicking off the last day of tourney action at 1:30 p.m.

Nedrose Invitational results, Dec. 9

Our Redeemer’s 44, Powers Lake/Burke Central 36

ORC: Maya Vibeto (16), Aubrey Griedl (11), Elise Altringer (9), Isabel Engelhard (3), Morgan Thorson (3), Leah Conway (2).

PLB: Savannah Frederickson (9), Camryn Rystedt (9), Jocelyn Puckett (8), Addison Barstad (5), Chiara Rystedt (3), Aliza Schroeder (2).

Lewis & Clark-Berthold Bombers 74, Lewis & Clark North Shore-Plaza Wildcats 8

BB: Kasey Simons (27), Mya Neshem (22), Aubree Schepp (6), Teagyn Anderson (5), Elyssa Lindahl (5), Macey Moore (4), Izzy Michel (3), Shayne Simons (2)

NSP: Kodi Alford (4), Bryce Miles (2), Charlee Schenfisch (2)

North Prairie Cougars 52, Surrey Mustangs 45

NPC: Jenna Rosinski (4), Morgan Leas (25), Lidia Motl (2), Morgan Casavant (6), Lizzy Smith (11), Hailey Peltier (4)

SUM: Ava Keller (7), Amelia Hoffman (2), Mia Aberle (5), Harli Dickman (7), Avery Cree (15), Morgan Anderson (2), Sienna Klimpel (2), Melissa Dougan (2), Kaitlyn Reiter (3)

Nedrose Cardinals 47, Hazen Bison 29

NED: Ashley Roberts (11), Piper Stein (2), Maecey McKibbin (13), Kaydee Boyce (15), Lilly Nelson (6)

HAZ: Makenna Brunmeier (11), Myah Mosset (4), Macey Van Inwagen (2), Bella Nolan (3), Macee Smith (8), Emily Erhardt (1)