#3 Red Lake County pulls away to beat Sacred Heart

The #3 ranked Red Lake County Rebels’ Connor Duden scored 29 points to help his team beat the Sacred Heart Eagles 83-62 at the Sacred Heart High School gymnasium in East Grand Forks.

FIRST HALF
The teams came out with an offensive mindset as there were ties at 2, 4, 14, and 16. Red Lake County led 18-17 when Gunnar Halverson made a free throw, Ethan Johnson had a basket, and Connor Duden knocked the ball away as Ben Gullingsrud picked up the ball and got a pass up to Duden, who hammered home a two-handed slam for a 23-17 lead with eight minutes left in the half.
The teams exchanged baskets, and Red Lake County led 27-23 when Duden had a basket followed by a three-point play for a 32-23 lead with 3:34 to go. After a Sacred Heart free throw, Duden made back-to-back baskets for a 36-24 lead. Sacred Heart’s Jacob Ortiz answered with five points to get the deficit down to seven points. Red Lake County’s Logan Vettleson scored a pair of baskets with a Sacred Heart basket mixed in, and the Rebels took a 40-31 lead into halftime.
Red Lake County’s Connor Duden led all scorers with 19 points in the half.

SECOND HALF
The teams had the hot hand to start the second half, as Red Lake County’s Duden got off to a quick start with a three-pointer. Sacred Heart’s Nathan Kaiser answered with a basket before the Rebels’ Gieseke made a three. The back and forth continued with a Sacred Heart three-pointer from Caleb Ihry. Less than a minute later, Red Lake County led 48-38 when they had back-to-back three-pointers from Duden and Gieseke for a 54-38 lead five minutes into the half. Sacred Heart’s Ortiz made a three-pointer before Red Lake County responded with an Ethan Johnson basket, three Gieseke points, and a Duden basket for a 61-41 lead. Red Lake County led 66-44 when Sacred Heart went on an 8-0 run behind four points from Nick Satterlund, and two points apiece from Reez Eckerdt and Parker Bernhoft to get within a 66-52 deficit with seven minutes left. Red Lake County answered with a 10-3 run led by six points from Gieseke, a Johnson basket, and an offensive rebound and putback from Halverson for a 76-55 lead.
The teams went deep into the bench in the final minutes, and Red Lake County won the game 83-62.

Red Lake County improves to 7-0 on the year. Sacred Heart drops to 4-3.
J.V. – RLC won 71-66 C Squad – RLC won 39-38

Jacob Ortiz

Benji Bramer

Nathan Kaiser

Will Gieseke

Reez Eckherdt

Conner Duden

Isaac Sundby

Ben Gullingsrud

Alex Renner

Jacob Ortiz

Benji Bramer

Nathan Kaiser

Will Gieseke

Reez Eckherdt

Conner Duden

Isaac Sundby

Ben Gullingsrud

Alex Renner

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