Mike Kraft/MDN South Prairie-Max senior forward Brianna Rose goes up for a layup in between Langdon Area/Munich defenders Mya Swanson (2) and Taya Feist during the Dale Brown Hoopster Classic at the Minot State University Dome on Tuesday, Dec. 30.

The South Prairie-Max girls basketball team only had one opportunity to showcase its talents during the Dale Brown Hoopster Classic and it made sure not to squander its chance in the spotlight.

The No. 1 team in Class A scored the game’s first 15 points and never looked back, routing Langdon Area/Munich, 67-34, at the Minot State University Dome on Tuesday, Dec. 30. The Royals put up 52 points in the first half en route to their fifth straight win after dropping their season opener.

While many teams among the 34 in the field played two or three games over the three-day showcase, South Prairie-Max was one of roughly a third of teams that played just a single game and one of eight that had to wait until the final day to do so. The Royals had fresh legs as a result, getting up and down the court in transition and knocking down eight 3-pointers over the course of the game.

“We just worked as a team and had a lot of energy,” South Prairie-Max senior guard Skotti Beck said. “We worked the ball around and really just got good passes in there. We’re a fastbreak team, so that’s what we like to do and we showed that tonight.”

Beck was one of three Royals to finish in double figures, pouring in a game-high 16 points – all in the opening half. She had nine points as part of a 15-0 run to open the game, creating separation from the Cardinals right from the opening tip. Brianna Rose and Rylee Routledge also contributed to the run.

The Royals (6-1) kept the Cardinals off the scoreboard for the first four minutes of the game before Ary Schaefer ended the scoring drought. South Prairie-Max led by as many as 21 in the opening quarter.

“I liked how our girls came out right off the bat and set the tone and that was the challenge I issued them in the locker room before the game started was to go out and set the tone,” South Prairie-Max coach Cory MacIver said. “We rebounded well in that first half and transitioning and getting up the floor and making layups and making some shots on the outside. If we get going early like that then we are a scary team, but we’ve also had games where we’ve struggled offensively to get things going. But if we can start out like that on a consistent basis it calms us down and our girls play a little bit more loose and a little bit more aggressive on the defensive end.”

South Prairie-Max’s scoring spree continued to start the second quarter, opening the frame scoring 12 of the first 17 points to push its lead to 41-17. Routledge hit a trio of 3s and Beck beat the buzzer with her final 3-pointer of the game as the Royals took a 52-19 lead into halftime.

“It helps give you confidence,” Rose said of the strong first half. “If you have a bad first half, you’re more likely to come out in the second half the same way. Having a strong first half really sets you up to have a good second half as well.”

The Royals had two definitive advantages over the Cardinals that made an appearance: depth and experience. Seven different players tallied points in the opening half and eight ended up in the stat book by the game’s end, compared to just three scorers for the Cardinals at the break before emptying their bench in the fourth quarter to finish with seven different point contributors.

“We go about eight deep and not a lot of teams have that luxury,” MacIver said. “Right now we’re at a point in our program where we have that luxury of bringing girls off the bench who can contribute right away. We have seven different people scoring in a half and that’s what we want. We don’t want to rely on one player to do the bulk of the scoring. If we can get six, seven or eight girls in the scoring column that’s a lot of points we’re putting on the board and that’s going to put a lot of pressure on other teams we play that they’re going to have to match that.”

The Royals had three scorers in double figures and two others scored at least six points. Rose finished with 15 and Routledge added 11. Rose scored a team-high six points in the second half as most of the Royals’ starters played limited minutes. Rose did most of her damage on drives to the basket.

“That’s always been my strongest asset when playing basketball is putting my head down, keeping the ball strong and tight toward me and going up strong as well and lightly off the backboard,” Rose said.

Rose is one of the core four seniors on the team that have been playing together for the better part of the last three years. South Prairie-Max’s roster features eight upperclassmen, while Langdon Area/Munich is much more youthful up and down its roster, having no seniors and just two juniors. Having that experience on the court makes life much easier as a coach for MacIver.

“The core girls have been together for three years now and you can tell on the floor that they’ve been playing a lot of basketball together because they know where each other are going to be on the floor,” MacIver said. “They know what needs to be done on the floor so me communicating with them doesn’t necessarily need to happen a lot. I give those four seniors a lot of credit. They know what needs to be done.”

The four seniors of Beck, Rose, Abby Mikkelson and Maycie Talbott combined for 40 points.

Hilary Haaven led the Cardinals (4-3) with 13 points.

The Royals have a top-five clash up next, traveling to play at No. 3 Watford City on Friday, Jan. 2.