The West Central Area Knights won the Pelican Rapids Holiday Tournament for the third year in a row with a 74-57 win over the Pelican Rapids Vikings on Saturday night. 

The Knights took a 42-28 halftime lead.  The Knights shot 51% (24-47) from the field and made 6 of 12 threes for 50%.  The Knights also connected on 20-24 free throws for 83%. 

Knight Coach Kraig Hunter said, "This was a nice win over a scrappy and much improved Pelican Rapids team.  They are doing a lot of things well and they battled the whole night.  We knew coming in after watching them beat Warroad that this wasn't going to be easy.  They also shot it very well hitting 9 of 18 threes."

"The key for us is that we have such great balance night in and night out.  We have different leading scorers each night and there is not much difference in any of our top eight players.  They are unselfish and do not care who is scoring the points." 

The Vikings made 21-46 from the field for 46%, 9-18 threes and 6-12 free throws. 

Leaders for the Knights were Jack VanKempen with 23 points, 7 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals, and 2 blocked shots; Tate Christenson had 16 points and 4 rebounds off the bench; Gage Staples had 10 points, 6 rebounds, and 2 assists; Grant Beuckens had 7 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds; Blake Koloski had 5 points, 4 assists, 2 rebounds, and 2 steals; Jacob Bright had 5 points, 4 assists, and 3 rebounds; Gavin Paulson had 4 points and 3 rebounds; and Teigen Moritz had 4 points and 5 rebounds. 

Hunter said there are so many guys contributing.  "I really feel bringing guys like Tate, Blake, and Gavin off the bench gives us so much energy and they have been making many momentum plays with their energy.  Teigen Mortiz also does so much for us in the middle.  He is doing a big job guarding the opponents big men and is just solid every night.  Also our two guards Grant Beuckens and Jacob Bright had 0 turnovers between the two of them tonight.  That is big considering how much they have the ball in their hands.  Lastly, as a team we hit 40-49 free throws in this tournament.  Having a good shooting free throw team is also a big factor." 

Scoring for the Vikings were Damien Britten with 15 points including five 3's; McHale Korf had 13, Logan Fahje 11, Hayden Christenson 7, Jayden Rutherford 5, Eli Sytsma 4, and Reggie Funk 2. 

"We just ran up against a team that is much more disciplined than we are on both ends of the floor tonight," Pelican Rapids head coach John Gullingsrud said. "We were effective in small spurts here and there, but we need to become more consistent if we want to be able to compete with a team like the Knights." 

Pelican Rapids (2-5) will resume play Monday, January 7 in Ashby. 

The Knights (5-3) will host Park Christian on Thursday.