The south stands of the arena at the Bismarck Civic Center were Bison country Friday afternoon.

It was hard to tell from the Barnes County North High School fans that the team was down by more than 40 points in its game against Four Winds High School.

"I wanted to see the team play," said Seth Petersen of Dazey.

It is the first time Barnes County North has played in the Class B Boys Basketball Tournament. Supporters made T-shirts, and came out en masse to support the team.

"We took the loudest award at the pep rally this morning," said parent Carol Peterson, of Wimbledon.

Her family knows about showing team spirit. Her son Zach is the team mascot, and her other son is a big fan of the Barnes County North Bison.

Basketball is a social event in Barnes County. Almost everyone in town attends all the games.

"If you don't, you must be sick," she said.

There's also more to the game than the game, like the half-time acts.

"The drums were awesome," Seth Petersen said.

The drums were those of Trinity High School in Dickinson. They played the halftime between Four Winds and Barnes County North. The song was "Walking on the Sun," by Smash Mouth.

"You get to see the non-athletic side of Trinity," junior Dominic Bouck said.

Bouck played trumpet and trash can during the performance. The trash cans stood in as drums for a drum line before the Trinity drum and bugle corps played the song.

"There was a part written for drums we don't have," band director Jeff Dasovick said. "It was a neat way to cover that part."

Bouck, and the other trash can and trumpet players, practiced twice a week before school for a month to get the sound just right on the bottom of the trash cans.

Trinity had to audition to perform during halftime at the tournament. They don't have a cheer or dance team to perform at the tournament.

"There's all these other dance teams, so it gives variety" to halftime, junior Matt Klug said.

Klug also is a member of the school's basketball team. He was pressed for time Friday to be able to perform at halftime and be ready for the game later in the afternoon.

"It's tough," he said. "I had (basketball) practice. Then Ihad to hurry up to get here (for halftime). It is a long day, sometimes."

But performing for the fans is worth it.

"It's pretty neat," junior James Kiedrowski said. "We took a look out there before we played."

Across the court, they would have seen the sea of Bison fans in blue T-shirts wearing blue balloon headbands.

The Bison fans cheered their team on to the end, when they lost 92-50.

"We were hoping to play them," Carol Peterson said about Four Winds. "They are always fun to watch."

(Reach reporter Sara Kincaid at 250-8251 or sara.kincaid@;bismarcktribune.com.)