The socks speckled with pink, blue and white dots were certainly a good-luck charm. Swenson made all six of his free throws during the final 26 seconds to give Fargo Oak Grove a 61-55 win over Northern Cass during Monday's North Dakota Class B Region 1 tournament quarterfinals at the Scheels Center of North Dakota State's Sanford Health Athletic Complex.
"These are the same socks I won as an eighth-grader," Swenson said, referring to the free-throw shooting contest he won while living in Mitchell, S.D. "I love to shoot free throws."
"It's not too often that you want the ball in your center's hands to make free throws at the end of the game," said Oak Grove head coach Kyle Card. "But that's what we wanted because we know he can make those."
Swenson, a 6-foot-4 senior, scored 23 points for a Grover team that now takes a 13-8 record into Tuesday's 6 p.m. semifinal game against No. 3-ranked Enderlin. Swenson knows he will be going up against 6-10 Joe Hurlburt and 6-8 Gus Hurlburt when the Grovers try to avenge the 73-69 home loss they suffered to Enderlin on Feb. 19.
"Yeah, I will be the short guy," Swenson said. "We just have to play as a team but still take it to them. We'll have to play a really good game."
Oak Grove had to play a good game Monday night, against a Northern Cass team it defeated 75-70 on Feb. 26. The Grovers also had to figure out how to stop senior guard Jase Crockett, who entered the game averaging 24.5 points.
Crockett scored 20 of his 26 points to help Northern Cass build a 39-31 lead in the third quarter. But Oak Grove responded with an 8-0 run. Then with 1:48 left of the third quarter, Crockett left the game with his fourth foul. Crockett played much of the fourth quarter but only scored on six free throws, missing short on a 3-pointer with 35 seconds left that would have given Northern Cass a 56-55 lead.
"He doesn't get tired. He just keeps coming at you," Card said of Crockett. "I have a lot of respect for that kid."
Oak Grove, which has won seven region titles since 2000, has played one of the toughest schedules in the state. Five of the Grovers' losses have come against Top 10-ranked teams. Two others losses came against teams receiving votes for the Class B poll.
"Some people question why I schedule that way," Card said. "But I do it to get us ready for tournament time and for games like this."
"We learned a lot from those losses," Swenson said. "We stuck together as a team through those losses."
Now the Grovers will try to avenge one of those losses against Enderlin. Will Swenson be sporting his lucky socks?
"I'll be wearing them," he said.
NC 15 30 41
OG 14 29 45
NC: Allmaras 12, Crockett 26, Vander Wol 13, Moser 2, Osland 2.
OG: Asche 6, Card 2, Swenson 23, Rodriguez 2, Martinson 4, Saunders 2, Boehning 5, Deitz 7, Bakkegard 2.
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