Mike Kraft/MDN Our Redeemer’s junior forward Nolan Schmidt goes up for a shot against Lewis & Clark’s Bentley Kannianen during the first half of a District 6 basketball game on Thursday, Feb. 5, at Our Redeemer’s Christian School.

The Our Redeemer’s boys basketball team had plenty to celebrate following its 111-37 victory over Lewis & Clark on Thursday, Feb. 5.

For starters, the decisive victory clinched the District 6 regular season title for the Knights for the second consecutive season and the No. 1 seed for the upcoming district tournament that comes with it. Last season, the Knights won both the district regular season and postseason crowns.

While it was the players on the court putting up a school-record offensive performance, Our Redeemer’s coach Brock Teets was the man of the hour, earning his 100th victory with the Knights in his sixth season leading the program. Teets was hired by Our Redeemer’s in May of 2020 and has enjoyed every minute of his time as the Knights coach.

“This school is something special,” Teets said. “The kids here are just amazing. I get to work with such respectful young men here and it’s all about our culture. These kids have really done a fantastic job. I’m really blessed to be able to work with these kids.”

Teets returned to the coaching ranks after three years away following his resignation from Bishop Ryan in August of 2017 after three seasons with the Lions to concentrate on the increased workload at his company at the time. He won 69 games at Bishop Ryan.

His previous coaching stints came at Berthold and Glenburn, where he racked up a combined 190 wins in 11 seasons with the two programs. Teets currently sits at 359 career wins.

“It’s an honor playing for him,” Our Redeemer’s junior guard Wyatt Weekley said. “He’s one of the best basketball minds I know. Probably the best basketball mind I know. He’s such a smart guy and over the years he’s just improved my game so much and I’m glad I’m under his wing.”

Under Teets, the Knights have advanced to the state tournament each of the past two seasons, placing third last year and sixth the season prior. The Knights won both the District 6 and Region 3 tournaments last year and have advanced out of the districts in all five full seasons with Teets leading the team.

“You just get a feeling of how blessed you are to have him as a coach,” Our Redeemer’s junior forward Nolan Schmidt said. “Everything he does for us on and off the court, us as the players know he puts in more work than anyone. He doesn’t like to have the spotlight on him a lot, but he deserves it once in a while.”

Schmidt and Weekley have been around for many of Teets’ victories, and they played a big role in delivering No. 100 for their coach. The duo combined for 47 points and threw a couple energizing dunks into the mix, as the Knights (14-1 overall, 8-0 District 6) scored a majority of their points in the paint. Our Redeemer’s had four players finish in double figures, with Jayden Marshall and Sam Zaderaka netting 16 and 15 points, respectively. Schmidt led all scorers with 31.

There was no emotional letdown following Tuesday’s road game at Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood in a battle of the last two unbeatens in District 6 play. The Knights cruised to an 82-45 victory, setting up Thursday’s game as a district-title clincher. Our Redeemer’s raced out to a 21-4 lead in the opening quarter and never looked back.

“We just have to go into every game with a mindset that we have to go out there and play our best ball because we’re going to get everyone’s best shot on the court and we did a good job of that tonight,” Schmidt said.

The Knights led 29-6 after one quarter and 56-17 at halftime. The Knights made 27 field goals in the opening 16 minutes, all coming from in close. The only struggle Our Redeemer’s had was knocking down shots from the outside, which eventually came in the second half thanks to their players off the bench.

With the game well in hand, Teets turned to his bench for the majority of the second half. They helped extend the lead to 60 points at 88-28 by the end of the third quarter and eclipsed the 100-point mark with a 23-point fourth quarter.

A 3-pointer by Gus Engelhard with 4:25 remaining in the fourth quarter pushed the Knights over the century mark. The Knights hit eight 3s in the second half. Engelhard knocked down a pair and Weekley, Zaderaka, Jayden Marshall, Jake Altringer, Collin Swenson and Tate Hofffart all hit one. Twelve different Our Redeemer’s players scored points.

“It was a good team win,” Zaderaka said. “We all came out and did our best. Every game is different. Coach got us ready and it was a big game so we came ready to play tonight.”

Teets was happy to get his bench playing time, something that has been difficult at times to do with a deep roster.

“My bench guys deserve more time,” Teets said. “They really do. I wish I had more time in a basketball game to get them in because I have a lot of kids that aren’t playing enough and I know it. They deserve more time, but it’s just really, really hard because I have a pretty deep bench and it just gets hard. There’s only so many minutes in a basketball game. My bench has been awesome and we’re going to need them if we’re going to go anywhere this March.”

Our Redeemer’s has won its last five games by 35 points or more. During this current stretch, the Knights have outscored their opponents 455-199.

“We’re so lucky to have all these guys that can play ball,” Weekley said. “All of them, I could go down the list. All of these guys are hoopers and they all know what they’re doing out on the court, especially because of coach Teets.”

Parker Neshem scored 15 points to lead the Longhorns (2-11, 1-6)

The Knights travel to Des Lacs-Burlington for a non-district game against the Class A Lakers on Saturday, Feb. 7.