Fargo South advances to State Tournament!

Article from the Fargo Forum here

Article from GF Herald here

Battling one of the best shooting teams in the state, the Fargo South Bruins jumped out to a big lead, then held on the rest of the game to earn a 63-56 win over the Red River Rough Riders, and more importantly, earn a trip back to the Class A State Tournament next week at the Alerus Center in Grand Forks. Fargo South came out of the gate red hot as they jumped out to a quick 12-2 lead to start the game. After Red River scored the first hoop of the game, South then scored the next 12 points in a row. Kirsten Pattison scored a hoop inside to start things out for South, then Jenna Lee hit a three pointer and Nicki Brodeur was able to penetrate to the hoop to draw fouls and get to the freethrow line. Cammi Greenheck also nailed a three pointer in the run, and Lindsay Sauvageau had a nice steal and layup as well. After a Rider time-out, Red River switched to a full court "slow down" press and fell back into a match-up zone. The result was a shorter amount of time on the shot clock for the Bruins to work with, but at least for the remainder of the first quarter, the Bruins still continued to score in bunches. Nicki Brodeur hit South's third three pointer of the quarter, and Kirsten Pattison made another tough inside hoop. Julie Hageman also came in and gave great minutes off the bench for the second straight night. Hageman hit a midrange shot from up top to give South a 21-7 lead, their biggest of the night. The Bruins and Riders exchanged hoops as Cammi Greenheck scored again in transition, but the Riders got a big play right at the end of the quarter as Andi Wheeler hit a 35 footer right at the buzzer to cut the lead to 23-12 and give Red River some momentum heading into the second period. Lost in the mix of all of the offensive points was the great job of defending Rider star Ann Arnason by Nicki Brodeur. Arnason, coming off a 32 point night in the opening round, has proven to be one of the best scoring threats in the league. One of the goals for the Bruins was to not let Arnason get any clean looks at the baksket, and for the most part, they achieved that goal. Despite that, Arnason still led everyone with 20 points on the night, cementing her place as an official "thorn in the side" of the Bruins. Ann led the Riders in points, rebounds, assists, and steals on the night. Arnason has averaged over 20 points per game against South in 3 games this season. In the second quarter, the Riders scored from 2 places, the three point line and the freethrow line. Arnason, Kaite Johnke, and Ashley Carl all hit from downtown for Red River to mount their comeback effort. For South, they were able to maintain their lead despite not shooting well from the freethrow line. Jenna Lee hit her second three pointer, and Julie Hageman scored on a nice left handed spin move inside. Cammi Greenheck scored on a three point play shortly before halftime, and South took a 36-31 lead into the lockerroom. In the second half, it was all about the seniors. With the season on the line, the Bruins seniors stepped up and made big play after big play in the second half, answering every Red River threat. In the third quarter, Jenna Lee stepped up on the offensive end. Lee hit for 8 points in the period, with 2 hoops coming off some nice drives and dishes from Cammi Greenheck, one of which resulted in South's second three point play of the night. Julie Hageman continued to work inside and draw fouls and get to the freethrow line, and Lindsay Sauvageau hit a huge three pointer to hold off yet another Rider run. Heading into the final frame, South held a 51-45 lead. In the fourth, South again relied on their seniors. Nicki Brodeur scored on a nice drive to the basket and also hit an important shot from the right baseline, and Lindsay Sauvageau hit a nice easy shot from in close, thanks again to a great pass off the drive from Greenheck. Jenna Lee put the nail in the coffin, as she buried her third three of the game, and the Bruins withstood the Riders final flurry of action to come away with the tough 7 point win. Jenna Lee led South in scoring with 19 points, while point guard Cammi Greenheck led the Bruins with 7 boards. South improves to 17-4 overall. The Bruins take on top seed West Fargo for the East Region Championship Saturday night at 6:30.

See the complete boxscore here

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Sauvageau 3 2-2 9, Greenheck 3 1-2 8, Brodeur 3 4-10 11, Lee 6 4-5 19, Hageman 2 3-7 7, Pattison 3 3-4 9; Totals 30 17-30 63, Three point goals: Lee 3, Sauvageau, Brodeur, Greenheck

GFRR: Wheeler 3 2-2 10, Arnason 6 4-4 20, Johnke 1 1-2 4, 2 0-0 5, Miller 2 0-0 4, Howes 1 3-4 5, V. Riske 1 6-8 8; Totals: 16 16-20 56, Three point goals: Arnason 4, Wheeler 2, Johnke, Carl

Fouled out: none; Total Fouls: South 19, GFRR 19; Rebounds: South 20(Greenheck 7),GFRR 20(Arnason 6), Steals: South 9(Greenheck 5), GFRR 3(Arnason 3), Turnovers: South 11, GFRR 16; Assists: South 7(Greenheck 3), GFRR 6(Arnason 2)