Bruins advance to State Tourney!

What a difference 24 hours makes. One night after a poor outing against top ranked Fargo North, the Fargo South Bruins battled a fiesty Grand Forks Central team and came away with a hard fought 68-56 victory in a state qualifying game Saturday night at the Fargo Civic. As in the first game of the Regional, it was a total team effort for the Bruins. Four different players scored in double figures for South, who also got 14 points off the bench. Early on though it was the Knights who looked like they might get things rolling their way. Central hit on 5 three pointers in the first quarter, including 3 by Ashley Lizakowski, who ended up leading all scorers with 26 points. South countered with balanced scoring though as Jessica Trautwein and Mandy Rice both scored 5 points in the quarter to keep the Bruins close, trailing 18-16 after one period. The game ended up being a battle of the balance of South against the 1-2 punch of Lizakowski and Dana Olimb, who later was named senior player of the year for the East Region. Olimb and Lizakowski ended up combining for 48 of the 56 points put up by Central. Both teams put up 17 points on the board in the second quarter, including a key play by Alicia Calkins who caught and was fouled on a lob attempt with 1 second left on the shot clock, which also ended up being the third foul on Olimb. South trailed 35-33 at halftime. Then it was just gut check time for the Bruins. With the season on the line, the Bruins put the clamps down on defense in the third quarter and held the Knights to just 7 points. A defensive swith that put the taller Melanie Hageman on Olimb proved to be the difference that swung the momentum of the game back to the Bruins. South's defense led to some offense, and the Bruins got six point from Alicia Calkins and got some huge baskets and foul shots from Hageman, who scored 7 in the period. The Bruins built a 53-42 lead heading into the final quarter. A three point basket by Olimb, Central's 10th three pointer of the game, briefly gave the Knights hope, but that was quickly dashed as Christa Salzwedel answered with a three pointer of her own. The Bruins played with composure down the stretch and hung on for the 12 points win. Melanie Hageman led the Bruins with 17 points, the second straight night she has led South in scoring. South will play the top seed from the West, Minot, in a 1:00 PM game on Thursday afternoon.

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Calkins 5 1-3 11, Hageman 6 5-6 17, Rice 4 1-2 10, Salzwedel 2 0-0 6, Trautwein 5 6-10 16, Stroup 1 1-2 3, Dobmeier 2 0-0 5; Totals 25 14-23 68, Three point goals: Salzwedel 2, Dobmeier, Rice,
Grand Forks Central: Lizakowski 9 2-2 26, Olimb 7 5-7 22, Grabe 2 1-2 6, Haten 1 0-0 2; Totals: 19 8-13 56, Three point goals: Lizakowski 6, Olimb 3, Grabe
Rebounds: South 36 (Trautwein8), GFC 26(Olimb 10); Steals: South 15(Calkins 5), GFC 3, Assists: South 18(Calkins 7), GFC 11, Fouled out: none; Total Fouls: South 15, GFC 15

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