Grafton rolls into another Class B Region 2 championship game
Feb. 23—GRAND FORKS — Grafton has relied on 6-foot-3 junior Walker Demers a lot this season. The Spoilers received help from the Division I recruit again Wednesday in the North Dakota Class B Region 2 tournament.
That's no surprise.
But Grafton also received a lot of production from other players as the Spoiler rolled past Cavalier 64-43 in the regional semifinal round at the Betty Engelstad Sioux Center.
Demers, who leads Grafton in scoring with a 16.6 points-per-game average, scored nine against Cavalier, but the Spoilers also received 21 points from Reagan Hanson, 12 from Cassie Erickson and 11 from Ainsley McLain..
Grafton will hope to use that scoring balance against Thompson in Thursday's championship game, which will be the fourth-straight year the two Region 2 powers will meet with a berth in next week's state Class B tournament on the line. Thompson downed Mayville-Portland-Clifford-Galesburg in the second semifinal game of the day
"Obviously, we want Walker to touch the ball," said Grafton coach Laurie Sieben. "But we ask all the girls to be confident and we're always working for the great shot."
Earlier this season, Grafton rolled to a 73-23 win over Cavalier.
The Tornadoes, however, were hanging around midway through the third quarter, trailing by 13 points.
That didn't surprise Grafton's coach.
"We like to push the pace but Cavalier made us uncomfortable," said Sieben. "That's important for a team to feel that but I thought our girls did a nice job of persevering through that at the end of the third quarter."
Cavalier was led by Rylen Burgess, who scored 12 points. The Tornadoes dropped to 12-9 and will close out its season Thursday against Mayville-Portland-CG in the Region 2 third-place game.
For Grafton, however, the focus remains on another Region 2 title and another state Class B championship, which the Spoilers won last season in Minot.
The Spoilers beat Thompson 61-34 earlier this season.
But regional title games, on a neutral floor, sometimes have a way of flipping the script.
"We have to make good choices on the offensive end and remain disciplined on defense because when you get to this stage of the season they're not going to hand it over to you easily," said Sieben.
Halftime: Grafton 40, Cavalier 22
Cavalier — Madysen Norstrom 6, Teagyn Fitzsimonds 7, Rylen Burgess 12, Carmyn LeTexier 1, Jade Kihne 5, Kaylee Kemp 4
Grafton — Claire Bjorneby 2, Reagan Hanson 21, Trinity Parsons, 2, Ainsley McLain 11, Jadrian Moe 4, Cassie Erickson 12, Addison Fredericksen 1, Walker Demers 9, Keira Cole 2
