JAMESTOWN – The South Prairie-Max Royals advanced to the 2026 NDHSAA Division A Girls Basketball State Tournament title game after defeating the Kindred Vikings 65-53 on Friday, March 6, at the Jamestown Civic Center.
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
With six minutes left in the game, Vikings sophomore guard Collins McQuillan drained a 3-pointer to cut the Royal lead to four, its smallest margin since the opening minutes of the game. The Royals finished the game on a 17-9 run to win by 12.
Vikings senior forward Liza Trenbeath scored the opening basket of the game, which was the only lead they had the rest of the first half.
Five different Royals scored in the first quarter, putting up 17 points, giving the Royals a four-point lead, 17-13.
The Royals extended their lead in the second quarter to seven, outscoring the Vikings 10-7.
John M. Steiner / The Jamestown Sun
The difference in the first half for each team was their 3-point shooting — the Royals went 4-for-17, and the Vikings went 1-for-10.
The Vikings attempted to chip away, but three separate times they cut the lead to single digits in the second half, the Royals responded with a 3-pointer.
“We live and die by the 3, and we’ve got shooters that are going to put it up, and we hope they can get into a rhythm,” Royals head coach Cory MacIver said. “We didn’t shoot it overly well today, but we were able to make a shot when we needed it. Hopefully, tomorrow we’re a little more successful from the 3-point line.”
The Royals will take on Valley City for the state title at 5 p.m. on Saturday, March 7, at the Jamestown Civic Center.
South Prairie-Max 65, Kindred 53
KIN 13 7 15 18 — 53
SPM 17 10 17 21 — 65
KIN — Liza Trenbeath 14, Siera Nipstad 22, Collins McQuillan 11, Kaja Starcevic 3, Ive Trenbeath 2, Kate Odegaard 1. Totals: 20-56 FG, 7-9 FT, 12 fouls. 3-pointers: McQuillan 3, Nipstad 2, Starcevic 1.
SPM — Skotti Beck 17, Abigail Mikkelson 17, Brianna Rose 14, Rylee Routledge 9, Mya Gunville 5, Maycie Talbott 3 . Totals: 22-56 FG, 13-18 FT, 8 fouls. 3-pointers: Beck 4, Gunville 1, Routledge 1, Talbott 1, Mikkelson 1.
Paul Garcia II is a sports reporter for The Jamestown Sun. Paul is an Air Force veteran where he was stationed at Minot Air Force Base. After finishing his contract with the Air Force, Paul obtained a bachelor’s degree in Communication and Media Studies at University California of San Diego, and a Master’s in Sports Journalism from the Walter Cronkite School of Journalism and Mass Communications at Arizona State University.
‘ The preceding article may include information circulated by third parties ’
‘ Some details of this article were extracted from the following source www.jamestownsun.com ’
