The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons Girls Basketball team used a balanced scoring attack and took advantage of a lot of Blackduck Drake turnovers in a 63-38 victory in a Section 8A matchup at Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.
FIRST HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami came out strong on the defensive end, forced several turnovers in the first few minutes, and turned some of those turnovers into points as they started the game on an 18-0 run. Kasia Wilson started the scoring with a basket and back-to-back three-pointers, followed that by Josie Iverson for an 8-0 lead. Kimberly Hitchen kept the scoring going with a three-point play, Wilson added a free throw, Maren Sather added back-to-back baskets, and Hitchen added two free throws for an 18-0 lead.
Blackduck finally got on the board halfway through the half with 8:46 remaining when Kaelan Rockensock scored back-to-back baskets. Fertile-Beltrami slowly built on their lead the rest of the half and took a 38-15 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
The second half was different as Blackduck scored the first points less than a minute into the half. Blackduck outscored Fertile-Beltrami 13-5 to start the half, with Wilson scoring all five points, and the Drakes trailed 43-28 five minutes into the half. With Fertile-Beltram leading 44-30, Sather had a big three-point play for a 47-30 lead, which seemed to spark the Falcons. After a Blackduck three-pointer, Erickson scored a basket halfway through the half, which sparked a 10-0 run. Willson and Sather added baskets before Isabelle Dahl scored back-to-back baskets in the paint for a 57-33 with four minutes remaining in the game. Fertile-Beltrami held on to win the game 63-39.
Fertile-Beltrami improves to 5-2 on the year and 4-2 in Section 8A play and will host the Northern Freeze on Tuesday, December 20. Blackduck drops to 2-6 on the year and will be off for a while before they travel to Laporte on January 3, 2023.
FOR COACH KELLY STENE’S POSTGAME COMMENTS, CLICK BELOW-
Audio Player|
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1st
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2nd
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Final
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| Blackduck | 15 | 24 | 39 |
| Fertile-Beltrami | 38 | 25 | 63 |
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For Fertile-Beltrami
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Points
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| Kasia Wilson | 15 |
| Josie Iverson | 11 |
| Kimberly Hitchen | 10 |
| Maren Sather | 9 |
| Isabelle Dahl | 8 |
| Tori Erickson | 8 |
| Stephanie Miller | 2 |
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For Blackduck
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Points
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| Marrissa Mills | 11 |
| Kaelan Rockensock | 10 |
| Kenley Anderson | 9 |
| Aunika Sundvall | 3 |
| Kendra Sparby | 3 |
| Chloe Cook | 2 |
| Kalli Gross | 1 |
