Bruins rally to topple Hi-Liners

Valley City came out of the gate on fire in the first quarter of Thursday nights EDC matchup, but in the end, South's depth and inside strength was enough to lift the Bruins to a hard fought 56-55 win over the Hi-Liners. Valley spread the wealth in the first period as 5 different players scored, including a three pointer by reserve Kristen Lueb to open up a nine point lead early. For South, it was the Jessica Trautwein show, as she scored all of the Bruins first quarter points and 16 of South's 19 first half points. South got back into the game in large part due to their improved defensive effort in the second quarter where they limited the Hi-Liners to just two field goals. Meanwhile the Bruins continued to pound away inside on the Hi-Liners, scoring every point of the first half from inside the lane or at the freethrow line. South cut the lead to 23-19 at the break and looked to be gaining momentum, but Valley held serve and pushed the lead back to 8 points to start the third quarter on another three pointer by Lueb and an inside basket by Brittni Bruenjes. Mel Hageman added to South's inside punch in the third as she scored 8 points in the period including a key three point play to help start the Bruins rally. The perimeter game also came alive in the run to finish off the half as three pointers by Sarah Kraft and Amy Hannaher tied the game up. South took their first lead of the game since a 2-0 score on a nice fast break layup by Hannaher, and the Bruins led 39-37 after three. The fourth quarter was tightly contested as neither team could make a run to put the other away. Christa Salzwedel had three huge baskets for the Bruins - a steal and layup basket, a three pointer and a long 2 pointer to help open up a 46-40 lead, but baskets by Molly Peterson and Bruenjes kept the Hi-Liners close. South couldn't quite close the deal as they missed a pair of free throws late, giving the Hi-Liners chances, but a late steal by Hannaher with the Bruins leading by 2 forced Valley to foul, sending Salzwedel to the line. She made her first before Valley called their last timeout. A missed second attempt gave the Hi-Liners one last chance, trailing 56-53 with under 10 seconds left, but the Bruins played smart defensively, letting the Hi-Liners drive to the basket for a layup at the buzzer, but without any timeouts remaining the Bruins didn't need to inbound the ball and time expired. The win moves South to 15-3 in the EDC and clinches the 2nd seed in the EDC tourney. Next action for South is Saturday afternoon when they travel to Jamestown - game time is set for 4:30 pm at Jamestown High.

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Kraft 1 0-2 3, Hageman 6 4-6 16, Salzwedel 3 1-2 8, Hannaher 2 0-0 5, Dobmeier 0 0-1 0, Trautwein 11 2-4 24; Totals: 23 7-15 56, Three point goals: Salzwedel, Kraft, Hannaher

Valley City: Bergan 1 1-2 3, Johnson 1 4-4 6, Bruenjes 6 0-0 12, Nathan 3 2-2 8, Lueb 5 0-0 13, Peterson 4 5-6 13; Totals: 20 12-14 55, Three point goals: Lueb 3

Fouled out: none; Total Fouls: South 14, Valley City 19; Rebounds: South 45(Hageman 14), Valley City 19(Bruenjes 8); Assists: South 14(Salzwedel 6), Valley City 11(Bergan 5); Steals: South 5, Valley City 4; Turnovers: South 6, Valley City 9; JV game: South 69 - VC 27; Soph game: South 42 - VC 19

click here to go back to our other game results