Bruins drop game to Valley City

Fargo South continued to struggle to get into the win column again on Thursday night, falling 61-54 to Valley City in the Hi-Liner gym. South played hard again, but just could not make enough plays in the final 8 minutes of the game to come away with a win. Despite playing without starting point guard Madeline Strandemo, who is out with an ankle injury, the Bruins led for much of the first half. Alyssa May started the game with a three pointer to give South a quick 3-0 lead, and Anna Diederich bounced back from a tough shooting night on Tuesday to put together a very strong scoring game. Anna hit her first of three 3-pointers on the night to give South an 8-5 lead. Midway through the half, an Emily Stroup blocked shot led directly to a fast break basket by Diederich, and South had built a 16-11 lead, but that's when foul trouble hit the Bruins. 4 different players for the Bruins had to sit on the bench over the last 5 minutes of the half. The Bruins lost the lead at 21-20 on a Hi-Liner freethrow, gained it back on a three pointer by Diederich, then gave it right back as Megan McDaniel hit a three for Valley City. South retook the lead back again with just under 2 minutes left in the half as Maddie Odegaard hit Alyssa May for a basket, giving the Bruins a 26-25 lead, but then the Hi-Liners hit back to back threes, and Valley took a 32-29 lead into halftime. After the break, the Bruins scored first on a driving basket by Bria Taber to make it 32-31, but South then had a drought, getting outscored 10-0 over the next 4 minutes to give the Hi-Liners a 42-31 lead. Anna Diederich then got it going on offense, scoring 7 of her game high 29 points in quick fashion, and Emily Stroup hit Maddie Erickson with a nifty pass through the lane for a basket, cutting the lead to 50-45 with 7 minutes left. South had a number of chances to get even closer, but couldn't get a shot to drop, and when they did get a bucket, the Hi-Liners answered right back. The backbreaker came with just under 2 minutes left when Mariah Olstad hit a shot from straight on right as the shot-clock expired, giving Valley City a 9 point lead at 58-49 which they would not relinquish. A breakaway layup at the end of the game by Valley's Jenna Jacob gave the Hi-Liners the 61-54 win. Anna Diederich led all scorers with a career high 29 points and also grabbed 11 rebounds. Alyssa May was the only other Bruin in double figures with 11 points. The loss drops South to 0-3 in the EDC and 0-3 overall. Next action for the Bruins is next Tuesday when they travel to Wahpeton.

play by play of the game
complete boxscore

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Erickson 1 1-4 3, Taber 3 0-0 6, Foss 2 0-0 4, May 4 0-0 11, Diederich 11 4-6 29, Odegaard 0 1-2 1; Totals: 21 6-12 54, Three point goals: Diederich 3, May 3

Valley City: Enstad 0 2-2 2, Kohler 1 1-2 3, McDaniel 3 3-6 11, Tangen 5 0-0 10, Jacob 5 1-3 11, Olstad 5 1-3 12, Taylor 4 4-6 12; Totals: 23 11-20 61, Three point goals: McDaniel 2, Olstad, Kohler

Fouled out: Taber; Total Fouls: South 20, VC 13; Rebounds: South 42(Diederich 11), VC 48(Taylor 13); Assists: South 15(May 5), VC 17(McDaniel 4), Steals: South 8, VC 11; Turnovers: South 24, RR 17