Bruins advance to East title game
Both Fargo South and Devils Lake were battling for the same thing...a place in tonight's East Region championship game and more importantly, a berth in next week's Class A State Tournament. Both teams fought tooth and nail to get there with tough, solid defense, but in the end the Bruins had just enough offensive output to post a hard fought 43-26 win over the Firebirds on Friday night in the Alerus Center. Defense was definitely the theme of the game as both teams clamped down on that end of the court - South held Devils Lake scoreless in the second period while building their lead, and had given up only 10 points at halftime. For the game, South limited the Firebirds to 22% shooting, thanks in large part to aggressive full and half court pressure that made it tough for Devils Lake to get many clean looks at the basket. Mel Hageman helped set the tone for the Bruin's defense as she took 3 charges on the night...a sure sign of a player willing to do whatever it takes to win. Devils Lake's 26 point effort was 24 points below their season average. What kept the game close throughout though was the fact that the Firebirds returned the favor to South, holding the EDC's highest scoring team to 23 points below its average. Both teams had to fight for every point put on the board. In the opening period, South used their depth at the post position to score inside, with the trio of Melanie Hageman, Katie Thingelstad, and Joslynn Tharaldson scoring 9 points in the quarter. Meanwhile, South's full court press was causing some problems for Devils Lake and the Bruins were able to build a 14-6 lead late in the period. But Devils Lake responded with a pair of inside baskets by Katie Schafer and trailed just 14-10 after one. In the second quarter though, the Bruins really cranked up their defensive pressure. Contesting every shot and limiting the Firebird's second shot opportunities made for one of South's best defensive efforts of the season, just when they needed it the most. All three posts continued to score inside, while the guard game got going as Amy Hannaher had a nice driving basket and a pair of freethrows, and Rachel Wagner dropped in her second three pointer of the first half on a beautiful screen and shape up shot. South put together a 13-0 quarter, and had a 27-10 halftime lead. The Bruins would continue to maintain that same lead almost exactly the entire second half, with both teams' defenses taking away the opportunity for either offense to put together any kind of a run...either to blow the game open for South or to make a charge for the lead for Devils Lake. Both teams scored 16 points in the second half. Devils Lake closed the gap slightly in the third quarter as Schafer continued to score, and trailed 35-20 heading to the final quarter, but the fourth quarter belonged to South's defense again, as they held the Firebirds without a field goal in the games final 8 minutes. Meanwhile Mel Hageman put the exclamation point on the game for South as she scored 6 points in the games final minutes to secure the win and state tourney berth for South. The Bruins only had 5 girls score in the game, led by the 13 of Hageman and 10 of Thingelstad. The win moves South to 19-2 on the year, and the Bruins play Grand Forks Central in tonights East Region Championship...the Knights were 45-40 winners over their cross town rival Red River in the tourney's other semifinal game.
See the complete boxscore here
Boxscore:
Fargo South: Hageman 6 1-2 13, Hannaher 2 2-2 6, Wagner 3 0-2 8, Thingelstad 4 2-2 10, Tharaldson 3 0-0 6; Totals 18 5-8 43, Three point goals: Wagner 2
Devils Lake: Schafer 4 0-0 8, Mertens 2 0-0 4, T. Privatsky 1 0-0 2, A. Privatsky 0 4-5 4, Johnston 2 2-2 6; Totals: 9 8-9 26, Three point goals: none
Fouled out: none; Total Fouls: South 14, DL 16; Rebounds: South 28(Hageman 7), DL 34(Schafer 9), Steals: South 17(Hannaher, Wagner, Hageman 4), DL 13(Schafer 5), Turnovers: South 23, DL 30; Assists: South 15(Hannaher 4), DL 3;