FERTILE-BELTRAMI BEATS CLIMAX-FISHER IN GIRLS BASKETBALL

In the last day of the regular season, the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons used a strong first half to beat the Climax-Fisher Knights by a 54-38 score in a game played in Fisher.

FIRST HALF

The two teams traded some baskets early on, but good free throw shooting by the Falcons gave them an early lead. The aggressiveness of the Falcons paid off as they put three Knights starters and one reserve in foul trouble with two fouls apiece in the half. Yet, the Falcons head coach, Kelly Stene, thought that his team, “got pushed down and didn’t hold their ground to have a good angle at the basket.” When they did get it inside with a strong post-up they made it count, even if they needed a couple of offensive rebounds to do it. The Knights tried to stay with in striking distance with a couple of steals and scores in transition from Jenna Vasek and Halle Reitmeier. “We definitely came out flat, which is frustrating to see because before the game we were ready to go and the girls were hyped up… it was just a bad half,” explained the Knights head coach, Adrianna Rooney. That combination led to a 33-14 halftime lead for the Falcons.

SECOND HALF

After the break, it was a much more competitive game, as the Knights showed some fight on the defensive side of the ball. Vasek continued her aggressive approach on that side of the ball, coming up with a few more steals leading to three baskets and a couple of assists for her. The Falcons continued to force it inside near the basket, but Climax-Fisher’s interior defense forced tough shots almost every possession down low. Coach Stene attributed that to a tired team with tired legs saying, “We had a week off so we have played six games in two weeks and five of them on the road… unfortunately, that week off set us back a little bit and we just haven’t bounced back yet.” With about five minutes remaining and a 18 point lead, Falcons point guard, Josie Iverson, made two consecutive needle-threading passes from the half court circle to the opposite block for two Taylor Miller layups to increase the lead up to 22, their largest of the game. That sequence seemed to have woke the Knights up as they went on a quick 8-2 run behind threes by Ella Reitmeier and Gracie Rouland, with both girls assisting on each other’s shots. “I think if we had five more minutes it would have been a little different ball game, but it shouldn’t have to take that five more minutes, especially when we have 36 minutes to do that,” said Coach Rooney. The late push by the Knights did have some life, but it was too late to forge a strong enough comeback to test the Falcons.

Climax-Fisher ends their regular season with a 5-12 record. Fertile-Beltrami ends their strong season with an 11-5 record. Both teams will await their playoff seeds and start the playoffs next week.