Bruin team effort leads to road win

Fargo South held off a scrappy Valley City team and the outstanding individual performance of Valley City star Jossy Bergan to earn a hard fought 61-46 win over the Hi-Liners in the Valley gym on Tuesday night. Bergan started the game off with a pair of freethrows to give the Hi-Liners a 2-0 lead, but the Bruins answered on a Kirsten Pattison bucket inside, and a three point play by Lindsay Sauvageau to jump ahead 5-2. South continued to get balanced scoring in the first as Jill Gagner scored on a layup, Nicki Brodeur scored on a nice drive to the hoop, Jenna Lee hit a basket, and Ali Stensgard scored on a post up to put the pressure on the Valley City defense to guard all 5 Bruins on the court. Meanwhile for Valley, Jossy Bergan was nearly unstoppable. A pair of three pointers by Bergan in the quarter gave Jossy 10 points after one quarter, as the Bruins led 17-12 after one. In the second, it was again the balance of South against the one girl show of Bergan for Valley. 6 different Bruins scored in the second as the Bruins built a double figure lead. Jill Gagner hit a three pointer and the Bruin guards ran the floor and scored in transition. Inside, Ali Stensgard and Kirsten Pattison each scored as well. However the Bruins had a tough time keeping Bergan off the board. Jossy was able to slash into the paint to get to the line and score baskets, and she gave the Hi-Liners momentum at halftime as she nailed a three pointer with 5 seconds left in the half, then stole the inbounds pass and scored again as the halftime buzzer sounded and the Bruins led by only a 33-27 lead at half. Jossy Bergan led everyone with 20 points at halftime. As the second half wore on though, the Bruins depth began to wear down the Hi-Liners. Nicki Brodeur did a nice job containing Bergan, with the help of the other Bruins, and held her to just one field goal in the period, although it was a three pointer. Meanwhile, the Bruins were able to get out and run the floor better in the third as the Bruin posts rebounded well and the guards finished on the offensive end. After the third, South had extended their halftime lead to a 47-34 score. In the final period, Jossy again kept the Hi-Liners close, as she scored 9 more points in the period, but as earlier, the depth and balance of South kept the game out of reach. Cammi Greenheck scored on a nice drive through the lane and Lindsay Sauvageau and Nicki Brodeur each scored in transition, while Kirsten Pattison scored in the lane twice as well. In the end, despite 34 points from Bergan, the Bruins held onto the lead and came away with the 61-46 win. The win moves South to 14-4 overall. Next action for South is Thursday when they travel to West Fargo.

See the complete boxscore here

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Gagner 2 0-0 5, Sauvageau 4 1-1 9, Greenheck 3 0-0 6, Brodeur 3 7-10 13, Lee 2 0-0 4, Hageman 0 2-2 2, Stensgard 4 0-1 8, Pattison 6 2-7 14; Totals 24 12-21 61, Three point goals: Gagner

Valley City: Bergan 10 9-11 34, Elliot 1 0-0 3, Tywinski 1 0-0 2, Berge 0 1-2 1, Noeske 3 0-0 6; Totals: 15 10-13 46, Three point goals: Bergan 5, Elliot

Fouled out: Noeske; Total Fouls: South 14, VC 15; Rebounds: South 39(Lee 8), VC 33(Berge 8), Steals: South 12(Gagner 4), VC 4(Bergan 2), Turnovers: South 9, VC 22; Assists: South 17(Lee 8), VC 5(Bergan 4); JV game: Fargo South Sophs 69 - Valley City 27