Berthold senior Shayne Simons drives to the basket against Benson County defenders Lacie Fautsch (30) and Kaitlyn Maddock (24) during the third-place game of the state tournament at the MSU Dome on Saturday, March 7. Mike Kraft/MDN

The Benson County girls basketball team was hoping to come to the Magic City and successfully defend their Class B state title.

For the second straight season, the Wildcats ended their season with a victory, but it didn’t result in the program’s second championship. It still, however, put them on the medal stand, winning the third-place game against Berthold, 62-57, at the state tournament on Saturday, March 7, at the MSU Dome.

“Only four teams in the state tournament get to end their season with a win and we wanted to be one of them,” Benson County coach Bryan Kenner said. “Like we talk about, in the Olympics they give out a bronze medal. They don’t give a medal for fourth. We told the girls that we need to go get that bronze. We go down as a team that got first last year and third the next year. I think that puts us in a pretty select group, so we had something to play for today.”

Not only did they get that bronze-medal finish, the Wildcats also successfully bounced back from a disappointing result against LaMoure-Litchville-Marion in the semifinal round the day before. Benson County recorded a season-low 29 points and shot just 20 percent from the field, missing all 11 of its 3-point attempts.

“LaMoure was so good (on Friday),” Kenner said. “I think a lot of it was respect to them, they are well coached and have great athletes. We didn’t shoot the ball well. We probably had our worst shooting night we’ve had in the last two years and that happens sometimes. But we wanted to rally back. You don’t want to end with two losses in a row.”

Benson County (24-3) took advantage of their size advantage down low, with 6-footer Lacie Fautsch grabbing 14 rebounds – five on the offensive side. She finished with 19 points to record a double-double. Addisyn Faul pulled down 11 rebounds, with seven coming on the offensive side. In total, the Wildcats grabbed 22 offensive rebounds, leading to a 21-5 edge in second-chance points.

“When my offense isn’t working, I always work my butt off on defense and I rebound and I get offensive rebounds and putbacks and that’s really where I strive,” Fautsch said.

Both teams delivered bounceback performances in the third-place game. A day after struggling to hit a shot from behind the 3-point line, the Bombers (20-8) knocked down 10 3s against the Wildcats. They hit three in the first quarter, with Lily Schepp draining back-to-back 3s to open the scoring for Berthold. Schepp and Shayne Simons both hit three 3s for the game and Addison Neshem and Ella Brown both knocked down a pair.

The first quarter alone featured three ties and 10 lead changes, with the Wildcats taking a 19-17 lead by the end.

“The third-place game is always a tough one because you have such a letdown from the night before,” Berthold coach Ken Keysor said. “I was just really happy with the resilience that we had. Some of our younger girls played to their capability tonight. It’s not like Benson County is a slouch. They’ve always been one of the top teams in the state the whole year. I’m extremely proud of every one of the ladies.”

After Neshem hit a 3 to open the second, the Wildcats outscored the Bombers 18-5 the rest of the quarter to build a 37-25 lead. Fautsch and Aubrey Kenner combined for 12 points in the second quarter and 26 points in the first half.

“(Fautsch) is a presence in the post,” Keysor said. “She’s got just a wonderfully soft touch at the rim, so once she does catch it, she doesn’t miss that shot. I thought we did a nice job on (Aubrey) Kenner and (Kaitlyn Maddock), but good players find a way. It doesn’t matter who you are, especially at this level.”

Just like in their semifinal against Central McLean, the Bombers had a run in them to get them back into the game. Back-to-back 3s from Schepp and Brown brought Berthod to within six with 4:25 left in the third quarter. When the Wildcats extended their lead to 14 early in the fourth, the Bombers countered with a 10-0 run, narrowing Benson County’s advantage to 54-50. Neshem, Simons and Ashtyn Erickson all contributed points during the run.

Neshem had her best game of the tournament. After being held to 10 points against Central McLean, Neshem poured in a game-high 24 points and also dished out six assists. Her fourth steal of the game led to an easy layup and pulled Berthold within two at 59-57 with 1:10 left.

“That Neshem girl is great and she was super active defensively,” Bryan Kenner said. “She did everything she could to keep them in the game. We did some uncharacteristic things where I thought we got rattled and we weren’t executing, but we settled in at the end when we needed to and found a way to get it done.”

Benson County held on, keeping the Bombers off the scoreboard over the final 70 seconds. Faul pulled down an offensive rebound and laid it back up to make it a two-possession game with 52 seconds left and converted 1 of 2 free throws in the final moments.

Neshem, Fautsch and Kenner were named to the all-tournament team. Kenner was also named the NDHSCA Senior Athlete of the Year.

In her final game in a Bombers uniform, Simons finished with 11 points, four rebounds, three assists and one proud coach.

“The last four or five weeks, she basically took the reins of the team,” Keysor said. “There were times during a timeout where she would basically say, ‘Hey coach, what do you think about this?’ And she’s usually right on because, as seniors, the expectation is you have to think exactly like how the coaching staff thinks or what needs to be done, and she did that immensely well during this stretch.”

For Benson County’s three seniors, Bryan Kenner believed they made a lasting impression on the program that will last forever.

“They kind of were the ones that started this run that got us this state championship, that’s got us the region championship this year that got us here,” Kenner said. “People didn’t really know who Benson County was at this level until a couple years ago when they were sophomores and we started making our presence known. Huge shoes to fill and I’m really proud of those girls. What they’ve done has been really amazing for our program.”

The season may not have ended on the positive note that the Bombers were hoping for after winning their quarterfinal game on Thursday, but Keysor was pleased with the year overall. With the majority of the team returning next year, the future remains bright.

“The biggest disappointment is when you get to the state tournament, there’s still going to be winners and losers,” Keysor said. “So you end your season on a two-game losing streak, but it could be fuel for the fire next year, but I wouldn’t trade any of these young ladies for anybody else that I’ve coached in my life and I’ve been coaching for 45 years. They just brought it to the table. I’m just so proud of everyone.”

Earlier in the day, Flasher defeated Edgeley/Kulm/Montpelier, 40-24, for seventh place and Washburn topped Linton-HMB, 52-32, for fifth.