Mavericks Earn Spot in Eastern C Divisional

The North Country Maverick boys basketball team has punched their ticket to the Eastern C Divisional in Glasgow starting on Wednesday, February 28.

The Mavericks earned the fourth seed in the Eastern C, by going 2-2 at the 3C District Tournament last weekend in Glasgow.

"It feels awesome!" Maverick Head Coach Haakon Fredrickson said about making it to Divisionals. "Very rewarding after the work they put in over the summer and throughout the season. The boys played a ton of basketball over the past year and improved a ton."

The Mavs opened their postseason with a victory over the Nashua Porcupines on Wednesday, February 14. The score was 43-42. They fell 71-32 to the Scobey Spartans in the semifinals on Thursday, February 15. Scobey went on to lose to Lustre Christian Lions 55-39 in the 3C Championship. North Country defeated the Dodson Coyotes 57-45 in the consolation semifinals on Friday, February 16, a victory which qualified the Mavs for divisionals. They fell 51-38 to the Circle Wildcats in the consolation finals (third place game) on Saturday, February 17.

In the team's win over Dodson, Laytin Erickson led the charge with a 16 point, 10 rebound double-double. Jake Brown had 13 points, six rebounds, and five steals. Blaine Downing had a 10 point, 13 rebound double-double and five assists.

The Mavericks jumped out to a 11-6 lead in the first quarter, and added to their lead in the second quarter, outscoring Dodson 21-15 in the second quarter. They led by as much as 20 points in the third quarter and outscored Dodson 25-24 in the second half.

In North Country's opening round win over Nashua, the Mavericks were down as much as 11 points with 6:15 remaining in the third quarter. A trey from Brown broke the ice for North Country, who went on a 15-2 run in the last six minutes. This included two treys by Erickson, one of which was a quarter-ending buzzer beater. North Country led 35-33 going into the fourth quarter, and held on despite being outscored 8-9 in the fourth quarter. Nashua was up 42-41 with 1:30 remaining. A late layup by Blaine Downing with 20 seconds remaining put North Country up, and the defense held Nashua scoreless in the last possession to win the game 43-42.

"Composure was key in the Nashua game," Coach Fredrickson said. "We were able to keep our heads and prioritized every possession. Jake and Laytin hit some clutch shots in the third and that ultimately swung the momentum for us."

Kade Strommen and Brown each scored 12 points in the win over the Porcupines. Erickson had nine points, seven rebounds, and three steals. Downing had six points, five rebounds, and five assists. Bowman had four points.

In North Country's loss to Scobey, Downing had eight points, 15 rebounds, and five assists. Strommen had seven points. Brown had six points. Erickson had six points and three rebounds. Coy Bowman had five points.

The Mavericks scored the first two points of the contest, but Scobey ran away, outscoring the Mavs 14-6 in the first quarter, 24-11 in the second quarter, 24–9 in the third quarter, and 6-4 in the fourth quarter.

In their consolation finals loss to Circle, Downing led with 12 points, five rebounds, four assists, and three steals. Strommen had eight points and five rebounds. Erickson had seven points and three rebounds. Brown had six points and five rebounds. Bowman had five points and two assists.

Circle outscored the Mavericks 14-9 in the first quarter. Both teams scored 10 in the second quarter. Circle outscored North Country 13-10 in the third quarter and 14-9 in the fourth quarter.

The Mavericks will face the Plentywood Wildcats, champions of the 2C District tournament on Wednesday, February 28, in the opening round of the Eastern C Divisional in Glasgow.