PACKERS UPSET BRUINS, MOVE INTO SOUTH'S BRACKET FOR EDC

West Fargo played a complete game on Friday night in a tournament like atmosphere and upset the third ranked Fargo South Bruins 63-57 in the Packer gym. After a slow first couple of minutes for the Packers offensively, they found their shooting rhythm and never lost it, scoring their second highest offensive output of the season. With the win, West Fargo moves up one spot in the seedings for next week's East Region Tourney, from 6th to 5th, putting them in the same bracket as Fargo South. Early on in the game, the Bruins were able to score quickly as the guards took over the scoring roll. Cammi Greenheck had a nice driving basket, a midrange shot, and a three pointer, Lindsay Sauvageau hit a three pointer, and McKenzie Mehlisch knocked down a pair of freethrows to help the Bruins build a 14-10 first quarter lead. The Packers stayed in the game as Ali Edwards hit from downtown and Brianne Gebeke made a pair of baskets. In the second quarter, Ali Edwards got hot as West Fargo chipped away at the South lead. She scored inside and outside to lead the Packers while Tiffany Gjestvang and Andrea Hummel both scored inside. Despite the hot shooting of West Fargo, the Bruins still managed to take a lead into halftime as Cammi Greenheck knifed through the lane and hit a tough shot right before the buzzer, giving South a 27-25 halftime lead. In the third quarter though, the Packers got hot again. Ali Edwards took over early, making a conventional three point play and hitting another driving basket, and the post combo of Gjestvang and Hummel, who were hitting from all angles, pushed the Packers to a 24 point quarter - those three players combined for 22 of the Packers 24 points. Meanwhile, South stayed close with some big baskets of their own. McKenzie Mehlisch was on the receiving end of some nice passing and scored 3 inside baskets and Cammi Greenheck hit a nice pull up jumper in transition. Joslynn Tharaldson also was able to start scoring for South, as she scored 9 points in the quarter. After a high scoring quarter, the Packers had built a 49-44 lead. Entering the fourth, the Packers extended that lead and looked to be in control, leading 54-48 with just over 3 minutes remaining, but the Bruins still had one last run in them. Jenna Lee hit a three pointer to cut the lead to 54-51, then 2 possessions later hit another three pointer to tie the game up at 54-54. The Bruins just couldn't get over the hump though. Brianne Gebeke answered with a three pointer of her own, building the lead back to 57-54, and the Bruins never were able to catch up again. The Packers hit 5 freethrows down the stretch to keep South at arms length and secure the win. South placed three girls in double figures, as Joslynn Tharaldson scored 15 points, while Cammi Greenheck and McKenzie Mehlisch added 13 and 12 respectively. The loss drops South to 16-2 in the EDC, and 16-3 overall. Next action for the Bruins is next Thursday afternoon at 3 PM in the Civic, when they play the winner of the Shanley at Devils Lake play-in game. In the other afternoon bracket game, Valley City takes on West Fargo.

See the complete boxscore here

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Mehlisch 4 4-7 12, Sauvageau 3 1-1 9, Greenheck 6 0-2 13, Lee 2 0-0 6, Tharaldson 5 5-5 15, Stensgard 1 0-0 2; Totals 21 10-15 57, Three point goals: Lee 2, Sauvageau 2, Greenheck

West Fargo: Vance 1 4-6 6, Vetter 1 0-0 2, Edwards 7 1-1 17, Gebeke 3 0-0 7, Gjestvang 5 1-1 11, Hummel 7 4-5 18, Beauchamp 1 0-0 2; Totals: 25 10-13 63, Three point goals: Edwards 2, Gebeke

Fouled out: Gjestvang; Total Fouls: South 14, W 15; Rebounds: South 28(Mehlisch 11), W 33(Gjestvang 12), Steals: South 5(Greenheck 2), W 11(Vance 4), Turnovers: South 21, W 11; Assists: South 13(Greenheck 6) JV game: West Fargo 52 - Fargo South 49, Soph game: South over West Fargo