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Bismarck High downs Fargo South-Shanley in OT

FARGO--With more than 50 points each on the season, the Bismarck High boys hockey team has ridden the scoring of senior forwards Dain Sardelli and Caleb Petrie all season.

Fargo South/Shanley goalie Zach Sandy reacts to Bismarck's overtime goal to defeat the Bruins Thursday at Scheel's Arena. photo by Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald
Fargo South/Shanley goalie Zach Sandy reacts to Bismarck's overtime goal to defeat the Bruins Thursday at Scheel's Arena. photo by Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald

FARGO-With more than 50 points each on the season, the Bismarck High boys hockey team has ridden the scoring of senior forwards Dain Sardelli and Caleb Petrie all season.

No other Demon player has more than 30 points this year.

With the season on the line, Bismarck leaned on its stars one more time.

The 6-foot-5 Sardelli scored at 1:09 of overtime, while Petrie assisted on both the game-tying goal and game-winning goal, as the Demons knocked off Fargo South-Shanley 4-3 in overtime in the North Dakota state tournament quarterfinals at Scheels Arena on Thrusday.

"It was our big guys," Bismarck coach Mike Peluso said. "That's what your good players do. They figure out ways to win a hockey game, even if they don't have their best game.

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"You kind of get to that point in the season, where you have seniors who need to play like it's their last shift. I kind of reminded them of that and a couple of them came to. Hopefully, they'll remember that now for tomorrow."

The Demons (19-4-1) will play undefeated Grand Forks Central in a state semifinal at 5:30 p.m. Friday.

The Bruins, playing in their first state tournament since 2015, dropped to 17-7. South-Shanley will play Mandan in a consolation semifinal at 11 a.m.

"I was in the right place at the right time," said Sardelli, who scored his 26th goal of the season. "It was a really good pass. He won the puck battle, shot it out, and I shelved it. Nothing beats that feeling, for sure. Overtime of the state tournament? I don't think anything can beat that. We didn't really play too well, but I'd rather win ugly than lose pretty."

South-Shanley built a 3-2 lead in the third period when Jacob Bryant hit his own rebound back through Bismarck goalie Quinn Ackerman less than three minutes into the final frame.

The Bruins were called for a tripping penalty with 4:16 left in the third and the Demons capitalized.

Dayton Deics' shot from the blue line used the screens of Jack Steckler and Sardelli to tie the game with 2:36 remaining.

"I thought we played fine, but we were in the penalty box too much," Bruins coach Dean French said. "That was the story of the game."

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French said the Demons' ability to make the last change as the home team was a major challenge.

That includes the game-winning goal in overtime.

"It was a matchup we would've liked to have avoided but we didn't get last change," French said. "We tried to kill the best we could but our killers got tired. The guys who had to kill all day long were tired at the end, even with the TV timeouts."

The Bruins took 19 minutes of penalties to Bismarck High's four minutes. The Demons scored two power-play goals to none for South-Shanley.

The Demons now have the giant challenge of taking on Central, the two-time defending state champions with a 69-game unbeaten streak against the state of North Dakota.

The Knights beat Bismarck High 10-1 a month ago.

"We have to figure out a way to play a lot better and bring some intensity," Peluso said. "If you can't do it against Central, you're never going to do it. Sink or swim."

Bismarck High 4,
Fargo South-Shanley 3, OT

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First period-1. FSS, Alex Senf (Tanner Kirkeby, Drew Sandy) 7:02; 2. BHS, Preston Wachter (Chase Fuhrman) 10:07

Second period-3. FSS, Noah Johnson (Sebastien Zasada) :22; 4. BHS, Caleb Petrie (Joey Heinert, Dayton Deics) 8:47

Third period-5. FSS, Jacob Bryant (Grant Gores) 2:37; 6. BHS, Dayton Deics (Caleb Petrie) 14:24

Overtime-7. BHS, Dain Sardelli (Petrie) 1:09

Goalie saves-BHS: Quinn Ackerman 6-8-1-2-17; FSS: Zach Sandy 7-9-13-1-30

Miller has covered sports at the Grand Forks Herald since 2004 and was the state sportswriter of the year in 2019 and 2022.

His primary beat is UND football but also reports on a variety of UND sports and local preps.

He can be reached at (701) 780-1121, tmiller@gfherald.com or on Twitter at @tommillergf.

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