FERTILE-BELTRAMI ENDS GAME ON 11-0 RUN TO BEAT WAO IN SECTION SEMI’S

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcons had lost six straight Section 8A semi-final games going into Wednesday night’s game. The losing streak was snapped as they finished the final four minutes of the game on an 11-0 run to beat the Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies 77-59 in the Section 8A Semi-finals/West Sub-Section championship at the Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.

FIRST HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami started the game strong as they scored on their first two possessions with baskets from Derek Sorenson and Preston Hanson. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo (WAO) got on the board with a pair of Kaden Pierce free throws before Fertile-Beltrami answered with a Sorenson basket for a 6-2 lead. WAO bounced back with an Adam McIntyre free throw and a Dustin Moehrle basket to cut the deficit to 6-5. The Falcons built a 12-7 lead before WAO responded with back-to-back three-pointers from Reed Hanson and McIntyre to take a 13-12 lead with 11:35 to go. Fertile-Beltrami senior guard Derek Sorenson responded with four points for a 16-13 lead. The Falcons took a 21-16 lead before a big three-point play by the Ponies’ McIntyre. The teams were tied at 23 and 25 before WAO took a 27-25 lead with a Kylen Kortba basket before Fertile-Beltrami answered with an Easton Petry three-pointer and four points from Mason Nowacki for a 32-27 lead with 4:07 remaining in the half. WAO answered with a 5-1 run with all five points scored by Kotrba to get within a 33-32 deficit. Fertile-Beltrami controlled the final two minutes of the half and went on a 7-0 run behind three Petry points, and two points apiece from Sorenson and Swenby for a 40-32 lead going into halftime.

SECOND HALF –
WAO scored four points to start the half, with Reed Hanson making two free throws and McIntyre adding a basket to get within a 40-36 deficit. The team exchanged baskets before the Falcon’s Preston Hanson scored inside, and Swenby followed with a three-pointer for a 47-38 lead. WAO’s Derek Moehrle answered with four points, only to have Fertile-Beltrami respond with a Swenby three-pointer and three points from Cody Opdahl for a 53-42 lead. WAO settled down offensively and went on an 8-2 run, with Pierce scoring five points and McIntyre adding three to get within a 55-50 deficit halfway through the half. Fertile-Beltrami stopped the run in a big way with six straight points as Nowacki, Caleb Stoltman, and Hanson scoring a basket each for a 61-50 lead. WAO chipped away at the deficit and got within 66-59 after Derek Moehrle made two free throws with 4:45 left in the game. Fertile-Beltrami picked up the defensive pressure and made some free throws down the stretch as they outscored the Ponies 11-0 in the final four minutes to win the game 77-59.

Fertile-Beltrami improves to 24-6 on the year and will take on the winner of Mahnomen/Waubun and Red Lake in the Section 8A Championship on Friday at 7:00 p.m. KROX will have the game on the radio and on the video live stream with a pre-game show at 6:30 p.m. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo’s season comes to an end with an 18-12 record and they say goodbye to the following seniors – Adam McIntyre, Jacob Schoepp, Reed Hanson, and Dustin Moerhrle.

CLICK HERE for Fertile-Beltrami Coach Neil Steffes’ post-game comments

For Pony Coach Christian Erickson’s post-game comments, CLICK HERE.

1 of 10