Bruins advance to semi's

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Fargo South put together a strong second half, led by the senior combo of Jenna Lee and Nicki Brodeur, to pull away late in a 68-51 East Region win in the Alerus Center in Grand Forks Thursday night and advance to Friday night's semifinal matchup with Red River. The Bruins had great balance on the night, as they placed 3 girls in double figures, led by the 18 points and 6 assists of Nicki Brodeur, while Jenna Lee chipped in with 16 points, all in the second half, and a team leading 6 boards and 4 steals. Early on though, it was another pair of seniors who got the Bruins headed in the right direction. Lindsay Sauvageau and Jill Gagner each dropped in a three pointer in the opening quarter to help South build a small lead after one quarter. The Spartans were able to match those three's though, as Jenny Goughner and Jess Arechigo also hit from downtown. Courtney Carpeter and Nicki Brodeur exchanged drives to the hoop as well, and after one, the Bruins had built a 16-12 lead. As the first half wore on, both teams battled each other hard and the game was closely played, with neither team able to put together a run. Each basket scored was answered by the other team throughout the period. For the Bruins, they had to contend with the inverted "triangle and 2" defense that the Spartans ran, with North chasing both Cammi Greenheck and Jenna Lee. That opened things up for some other players though. Jill Gagner scored on a nice driving basket, Lindsay Sauvageau hit another three pointer, and Nicki Brodeur continued her very solid play as she was able to drive through the defense to get easy layups. The Bruins also were able to feed Kirsten Pattison inside, where the 6'1 post drew fouls and converted from the freethrow line. At halftime, South maintained a slim 29-25 lead. In this close game though, the Bruins senior leadership took over. The South seniors accounted for all but 3 second half points, and the Bruins got a huge lift as Jenna Lee found her three point range after half. South started the half with a three point bomb from Lee just 15 seconds in to give the Bruins a quick 32-25 lead, however that was quickly answered by a three from Coutney Carpenter. The Bruins running game also got into the act in the third. Jill Gagner got behind the Spartan defense for a layup to spark South, and Jenna Lee hit another three pointer. After a North hoop, Gagner again scored for South as she hit a midrange shot from the left baseline off of a Spartan timeout. The biggest series of the game though came in the closing seconds of the period. Jenna Lee hit her third three pointer of the quarter with 4 seconds left, to push South's lead from a 43-37 score to 46-37, then opened the fourth quarter with another three pointer, where she was also fouled on the play then cashed in for the rare four point play to push the lead to 50-37. Those 7 points in a 20 second span catapulted the Bruins from a tight game to a game with a little breathing room to open play in the fourth. North stayed withing shouting distance though, as they kept hitting their open shots. Jess Arechigo hit from downtown, and Kaia Hanson scored a pair of hoops over the next couple of minutes to keep the game close. South continued to make plays though. Nicki Brodeur scored a tough lefty layup in transition and also got to the freethrow line, thanks in large part to great boxing out on the defensive rebounding side of things. Taking care of the defensive rebounds was a huge key in the game for South, as they allowed only 4 offensive rebounds for the Spartans. Amy Stroup also had a nice offensive rebound putback for the Bruins to help hold off any Spartan comeback attempt. Both Julie Hageman and Amy Stroup did a great job off the bench in the post position, which was very important as the Bruins were without one of their inside players, Ali Stensgard, who was ill and did not make the trip. South stretched out their lead late, as they went 10-11 from the line in the final period, including 4-4 from both Brodeur and Cammi Greenheck, to post the 17 point win. South improves to 16-4 on the season.

See the complete boxscore here

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Gagner 4 2-2 11, Sauvageau 2 2-2 8, Greenheck 0 4-4 4, Brodeur 5 8-10 18, Lee 5 1-2 16, Hageman 1 0-0 2, Stroup 1 1-2 3, Pattison 1 4-6 6; Totals 19 22-28 68, Three point goals: Lee 5, Sauvageau 2, Gagner

Fargo North: Hanson 2 1-2 5, Carpenter 4 1-1 10, Arechigo 4 3-4 13, Jastrom 2 0-0 4, Olson 4 5-6 13, Erickson 1 0-0 3, Goughner 1 0-0 3; Totals: 18 10-13 51, Three point goals: Arechigo 2, Carpenter, Erickson, Goughner

Fouled out: Hanson, Carpenter; Total Fouls: South 14, North 22; Rebounds: South 33(Lee 6), North 27(Olson 7), Steals: South 10(Lee, Greenheck 4), North 6(Arechigo 2), Turnovers: South 13, North 14; Assists: South 15(Brodeur 6), North 14(Carpenter 5)