Bruins fall to Mandan in Championship game

The Mandan Braves lived up to their top ranking, and won their 4th straight State Title, as they cruised past the Fargo South Bruins 57-29 on Saturday night in the Alerus Center. South found themselves down 9-0 before they could even blink, as tournament MVP Kayla Rogers hit 3 three pointers in the opening 90 seconds of play, one of them from behind the NBA arc, and had the Bruins on their heels from there. Jenna Lee tried to answer for South as she hit a three pointer, but Heather Nuss answered with another Mandan three. Kirsten Pattison made a conventional three point play to make it 12-6, but the inside power of Jessica Kielpinski and Cassi Kelsch pushed the lead to 19-6. Jenna Lee's second three pointer of the period cut the lead to 19-9 after one quarter, but the momentum was clearly on the side of the Braves. Mandan continued to be red hot from the three point line, as Rogers made two more threes just 2 minutes into the second quarter, and Liz Schleicher hit from downtown as well. Meanwhile, the Braves pressure forced 13 first half turnovers by South, and the Bruins trailed 36-18 at halftime as Mandan went 7-9 from the three point line in the first half. Mandan squelched any comeback hopes by the Bruins in the third quarter as well, as the Braves scored the first 14 points of the quarter to blow the game wide open at 50-18. A three pointer by Jill Gagner was South's only points of the period, and the Bruins trailed 50-21 heading into the final quarter. Both teams played their reserves shortly into the final quarter, and the Braves cruised to their 6th title in 7 years. South placed two players on the all tournament team, Jenna Lee and Cammi Greenheck. South finishes the season at 20-5.

See the complete boxscore here

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Gagner 1 0-0 3, Greenheck 0 2-2 2, Thorson 1 0-0 3, Lee 3 0-0 9, Hage 0 1-2 1, Hageman 0 2-2 2, Stroup 1 0-0 2, Stensgard 0 2-2 2, Pattison 2 1-1 5; Totals 8 8-9 29, Three point goals: Lee 3

Mandan: Kraft 1 0-0 3, Long 1 0-0 2, Rogers 5 0-0 15, Schleicher 1 0-0 3, Nitschke 1 0-0 2, Nuss 1 2-2 5, Jenson 1 0-0 2, Kelsch 4 2-4 10, Levi 1 0-0 2, Kielpinski 5 3-4 13; Totals: 21 7-11 57, Three point goals: Rogers 5, Kraft, Schleicher, Nuss

Fouled out: none; Total Fouls: South 13, M 12; Rebounds: South 31(Lee 6), M 27(Schleicher 5), Steals: South 6(Stroup 3), M 13(Rogers 5), Turnovers: South 27, M 10; Assists: South 8(Sauvageau 3), M 17;