Bruins beat Mandan in season opening thriller

In a typical first game manner, with both teams putting together stretches of good basketball and stretches of not so good basketball, the Fargo South Bruins managed to put one last good stretch together at the end to nip the #2 ranked Mandan Braves 68-67 on senior Colee Silovich's put back jumper at the buzzer. Mandan jumped out to an early eight point lead in the first quarter through a flurry of full court pressure which forced the Bruins to turn the ball over on several occassions. The Bruins regained their composure though and rallied to trail by only four after the first period. In the second period, South was able to take advantage at the freethrow line and also was able to break the Braves full court press and took a four point lead of their own into halftime, leading 36-32. South continued to play well through the early parts of the third quarter, building a ten point lead midway through the quarter. Foul trouble to point guard Renae Whitford and center Kristi Kilander let Mandan back in the game though, and South held a 2 point lead entering the final period. Kari Hanson for Mandan led the charge for the Braves in the third quarter scoring 12 of her 17 points in that period. The fourth quarter was back and forth but it looked as though Mandan was in control late in the game as they built a three point lead 67-64 with 33 seconds remaining and they had control of the ball as well. South was forced to foul, and Mandan missed both freethrows. On the offensive end, the Bruins attacked the trapping half court defense and Silovich hit a baseline jumper with 18 seconds left, cutting the lead to one. After a time out, the Bruins again fouled, and again the Braves missed both freethrows. The Bruins attacked the basket and found Kristi Kilander inside for a heavily contested turnaround in the lane which bounced off the rim, but Silovich was in position for an offensive rebound which she calmly collected and put back up and in for the game winner at the buzzer. The Bruins got very balanced scoring, placing 4 different girls in double figures. With the win, the Bruins go to 1-0 on the season. Next action for South is Friday night when they take on the #3 Bismarck Demons at the Fargo Shanley gym.

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Silovich 3 1-1 7, Whitford 3 5-6 13, Hewitt 4 4-7 12, Elias 4 3-6 11, Kilander 3 10-13 16, xxxxx 1 2-2 4, Holman 1 0-0 2, Tufte 1 1-2 3, Pietrick 0 0-0 0, Totals 20 26-37 68, Three point goals: Whitford 2
Mandan: Heidi Zander 2 1-5 5, Kylie Neustel 2 0-2 5, Kari Hanson 6 5-9 18, Amy Friesz 3 7-8 13, Nikki Wright 1 1-2 3, Mary Schuh 2 0-2 4, Rachel Conlon 2 0-0 4, Totals: 23 17-32 67, Three point goals: Friesz 2, Hanson, Neustel
Fouled out: Elias, Wright; Total Fouls: South 23, Mandan 26; Rebounds: South 41(Kilander 9), Mandan 36(Hanson, Frezel 6) JV game: none, Soph game: none

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