Mike Kraft/MDN Our Redeemer’s senior guard Payten Lindbo goes up for a jump shot as Hazen’s Carter Johnsrud comes out to defend during the Dale Brown Hoopster Classic on Monday, Dec. 29, at the Minot Municipal Auditorium.

The Our Redeemer’s boys basketball team found itself battling more than just an undefeated Hazen team during the Dale Brown Hoopster Classic on Monday, Dec. 29.

The third-ranked Knights were also dealing with a rash of illness that was making its way through their locker room over the course of the holiday break, keeping many from participating in practice leading up to Monday’s contest.

Fighting a two-front war against the Bison and stomach bugs, they were able to overcome both, coming away with a 70-48 victory over Hazen at the Minot Municipal Auditorium. In the process, the Knights dealt the Bison their first loss of the season.

“It was good to finally play a game again,” Our Redeemer’s coach Brock Teets said. “Christmas basketball is never the prettiest. There’s no doubt about that. We’ve been dealing with some sickness going around our team right now. We had to battle through that. We haven’t seen some kids for a while. It was a hard-fought battle, but we’re growing.”

One fortunate player for the Knights (3-1) that has managed to stay healthy is Nolan Schmidt, who was tasked with both leading the offense as well as drawing the defensive assignment on Keaton Batke. The Hazen (5-1) junior guard was fresh off a 29-point game against Velva on Saturday.

Schimdt was up for the challenge, pouring in a game-high 20 points while limiting Batke to 16 points. Schmidt scored 14 in the first half – 10 in the second quarter alone – to stake the Knights out to a 34-25 lead at halftime.

“We know we had to move the ball and get the pace going right away,” Schmidt said. “They’re a big, physical team, so we had to match them on the boards and really just run good offense and do our best to do what we do and score a lot of points.”

All of the Knights’ offensive production in the opening half came inside the 3-point line as they didn’t hit a single shot from distance in the opening 16 minutes. Our Redeemer’s knocked down 13 shots in the first half and eight free throws.

Despite having to deal with more fatigue than usual due to illness, the Knights kept the tempo up, even if it meant backing off on the full-court pressure while also constantly rotating players in and out.

And then the Knights started knocking down 3s and they began growing their lead. Our Redeemer’s connected on five 3-pointers in the second half and what once was a single-digit game throughout the first half turned into double digits fairly quickly. Wyatt Weekley was one player dealing with illness, but managed to hit a pair of 3s in the second half and finished with 18 points.

“You can tell with their culture that they’ve been doing this for a while,” Hazen coach Chad Marshall said. “They’re big, they’re physical, they’re well-coached. They’re just a next-level basketball team. That Weekley kid is tough. (Schmidt) is tough. They’re just a good team.”

Collin Swenson hit back-to-back treys to give Our Redeemer’s a 51-33 lead with 2:08 left in the third quarter. The Knights took a 53-35 lead into the fourth quarter and Payten Lindbo opened the final stanza with another 3.

“In the second half, we got our shot-making going and everything looks better when the ball goes through the net,” Schmidt said. “We were really having good offense in the second half and moving the ball around to get easy baskets.”

Schmidt was quieter on the offensive side of the ball in the second half, but continued to keep Batke in check. Batke finished with 16 points, but hit just five shots in the game.

“It’s Nolan Schmidt, he’s one of the best players in the state,” Teets said. “He had to play a lot of minutes tonight. I think I got him out for 30 seconds tonight or maybe a minute at the most. He does it all. He’s a great offensive player and one of the best defensive players in the state. We ask a lot of Nolan and he’s up for the task.”

Hazen’s scoring duo of Batke and Jaran Reinhardt combined for 21 points. All of Reinhardt’s points came in the second half.

Jayden Marshall was another player for the Knights battling through sickness, playing in two and three minute bursts at times. He contributed eight points, as did Lindbo.

The Knights are hoping a victory has the same healing effects as a warm bowl of chicken noodle soup, because they have a quick turnaround, playing North Star in the final day of the Hoopster Classic on Tuesday, Dec. 30, at the Minot State University Dome at 8 p.m..

“I told the guys they have to get some fluids in them and we got to get the guys that are sick back in the mix somehow,” Teets said. “Hopefully they are a little better (Tuesday) and can move a little better. We have a quick turnaround with a good North Star team, so hopefully we’re a little healthier.”