Bruins power their way to EDC Championship

Fighting off a hot start and hostile crowd of Valley City, the Fargo South Bruins used their superior size, speed, and depth to claim a 69-48 victory over the Hi-Liners in the Auditorium's last girls basketball game to secure the EDC title for the first time since 1999. Valley jumped out to a fast start on the Bruins, taking a 13-11 first quarter lead, but as the second and third quarters wore on, the Bruins made a huge run the stretched the two point deficit into a 30 point lead midway through the third quarter. The Bruins used the three-headed monster of Melanie Hageman, Katie Thingelstad, and Joslynn Tharaldson to pound away inside on the Hi-Liners, as the triple post combo for South outscored Valley by themselves, scoring 49 combined points. The Bruins scored on a plethora of high-low passing and also got numerous looks by the posts driving to the basket in one-on-one situations. The defensive effort was also there for the Bruin interior game, as the Bruins drew two charging calls on the Hi-Liners standout post player Brittni Bruenjes early in the game to set the tone of the interior play. While all this was going on on the offensive end, it was the Bruins pressure defense in the second half that completely blew the game wide open. Rachel Wagner continued her sparkling defensive pressure play that rattled the Hi-Liners into a number of turnovers and rushed shots, while simply wearing down Valley both physically and mentally. All of the perimeter players for South were aggressive on defense, a trait which led to 18 steals and 29 Hi-Liner turnovers. In the pivotal middle two quarters, the Bruins hawking defense and tough offense led the the Bruins outscoring the Hi-Liners 45-16 in the periods. The Bruin effort was shown in microcosm in the third quarter when Cammi Greenheck completely outworked the Hi-Liners - she poked the ball away from Jossy Bergan, dove on the floor after the loose ball, secured it, maintained control and managed to get up and attack the basket, weaving through Valley defenders to get a shot up, and as the shot rolled off the rim, the Bruins aggressively went after the offensive rebound and got to the foul line for freethrows. That play typified the entire championship season for South - outworking teams on both ends of the floor for wins. The win moves South to 16-0 in the EDC, and clinches the conference title for the Bruins. South will take the #1 seed into the East Region tourney which begins in two weeks. The Bruins were led in scoring by Mel Hageman who poured in 23 points while grabbing 11 rebounds. South also put 3 other players in double figure scoring, Katie Thingelstad scored 16 and also grabbed 10 boards, while Amy Hannaher and Joslynn Tharaldson each scored 10. Next action for South is Saturday afternoon when they host Devils Lake.

See the complete boxscore here

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Mehlisch 0 1-2 1, Hageman 8 7-9 23, Hannaher 3 2-2 10, Wagner 1 2-3 4, Thingelstad 6 4-4 16, Tharaldson 5 0-0 10, Lee 2 0-0 5; Totals 25 16-20 69, Three point goals: Hannaher 2, Lee

Valley City: Johnson 0 0-1 0, Bergan 6 1-2 16, Burchill 1 1-4 3, Klingenberg 1 2-5 4, Bruenjes 6 5-8 17, Peterson 3 2-2 8; Totals: 17 11-22 48, Three point goals: Bergan 3

Fouled out: Peterson; Total Fouls: South 21, VC 17; Rebounds: South 39(Hageman 11), VC 22(Bruenjes 9), Steals: South 18(Kraft, Hannaher 4), VC 14(Bruenjes 4), Turnovers: South 28, VC 29; Assists: South 20(Wagner, Thingelstad 5), VC 10(Bergan 4); JV game: Fargo South 76 - Valley City 24, Soph game: none L>