Bruins fight but come up short

Despite playing well, the Bruins could not overcome the red hot shooting of Grand Forks Red River and fell to the Riders 79-56 on Friday night in Grand Forks. The Riders shot 71% from the three point line in the second half, and 67% from downtown for the game, while the Bruins struggled all night from the perimeter, hitting only 1 of 10 three point shots. South scored first on a freethrow by Bria Taber, but then the Riders went on a 10-2 run to lead 10-3 with 14 minutes left. However the next stretch of basketball belonged to Maddie Erickson. The 8th grader had her best stretch of the season, with a steal, a pair of freethrows, 2 nice baskets, and a great assist to fellow 8th grader Emily Stroup, and the Bruins were right back in the game down just 12-11 causing a Rider time-out. The Riders wrestled momentum back after that timeout though, as All-Conference guard Ellie Ripplinger scored 5 straight points, and the Riders built the lead back up to 22-11. The teams traded baskets for most of the remainder of the half. Bria Taber's basket on a nice pass from Emily Stroup cut the Rider lead to 36-27 with 2 minutes left before halftime, but a pair of costly turnovers in the last minute of the half allowed the Riders to stretch out the lead to 42-29 in very quick fashion, and then the Riders finished off the half after a Bruin missed basket by bombing in a 50 footer by Payton Salquist right at the halftime buzzer. So despite playing good basketball, the Bruins found themselves down 45-29 at halftime, giving up 7 points in the last minute of the half. The Bruins still continued to fight hard though. A basket by the Riders to start the half made it 47-29, but then South chipped away, thanks to a pair of baseline shots by Alyssa May and an offensive putback by Anna Diederich, and South was still in it, trailing just 47-35 with plenty of time left. However, that's when the Riders got red hot. A three point play by Ripplinger was followed by three pointers by Shelby Bommersbach, Morgan Smith, Payton Salquist, and JoDee Wheeler, and just like that the game turned into a runaway. It was a frustrating night offensively for South as they got a number of clean looks at the basket but just could not get anything to fall. Bria Taber led the Bruins with 16 points, and Maddie Erickson joined her in double figures with 12. The loss drops South to 1-11 on the season. Next action for the Bruins is Tuesday when they travel up to Fargo North to take on the Spartans.

play by play of the game
complete boxscore

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Erickson 3 6-6 12, Strandemo 3 0-0 6, Taber 7 2-5 16, Stroup 4 0-1 8, Foss 2 1-5 6, May 2 0-0 4, Diederich 2 0-0 4; Totals: 23 9-17 56, Three point goals: Foss

Red River: Wheeler 2 1-2 7, Knecht 3 0-1 6, Steffen 3 5-6 11, Smith 2 0-0 5, Ripplinger 7 4-5 19, Bommersbach 3 2-2 10, Salquist 3 0-0 8, LaDouceur 5 0-0 10, Trader 1 0-0 2, Lange 0 1-2 1 ; Totals: 29 13-18 79, Three point goals: Bommersbach 2, Ripplinger, Salquist 2, Wheeler 2, Smith

Fouled out: none; Total Fouls: South 15, RR 13; Rebounds: South 38(Taber 9), RR 34(Steffen 7); Assists: South 13(Stroup, May 3), RR 16(Salquist 5), Steals: South 9(May 3), RR 16; Turnovers: South 19, RR 13