Fertile-Beltrami Girls Basketball uses strong second half to beat Blackduck

The Fertile-Beltrami Falcon Girls basketball team used a 10-0 run early in the second half to build a lead and never looked back as they beat the Blackduck Drakes 62-48 at Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.

FIRST HALF –
Fertile Beltrami’s Bailey Iverson scored the first basket of the game. Blackduck answered before Madison Stueness made a three-pointer for a 5-2 Falcon lead to start the game. Blackduck made two free throws before Tessa Opdahl made a free throw, and Iverson made a basket for an 8-5 lead. After a Drake three-pointer, Opdahl scored five straight points to give the Falcons a 13-7 lead six minutes into the game. Blackduck responded with four points before the Falcons’ Erickson scored in the paint, and Miller added a free throw to take a 16-11 lead halfway through the first half. Blackduck answered with five straight points to tie the game before Fertile-Beltrami’s Opdahl made a three-pointer for a 19-16 lead. Blackduck made a basket and two free throws to take their first lead of the game, 20-19. Fertile-Beltrami’s Katrina Hitchen grabbed an offensive rebound and scored, and Indigo Oistad made a free throw for a 22-20 lead. The game was tied at 22, 25, and 27 before Blackduck’s Aunika Sundval made two free throws to give the Drakes a 29-27 lead going into halftime.

SECOND HALF –
Blackduck had a 35-32 lead to start the second half before Fertile-Beltram took over with a 10-0 run over a three-minute span. Stueness and Iverson had four points apiece, and Tia Werpy added a basket for a 42-35 lead with 11 minutes left in the game. After a Blackduck basket, Stueness added four points for a 46-37 lead. Blackduck slowly chipped away at the Falcon lead and got within a 52-46 deficit with 3:53 remaining. Fertile-Beltrami dominated the final minutes of the game as they ended the game on a 10-2 run while making most of their free throws for a 62-48 victory.

Fertile-Beltrami improves to 4-3 on the year. Blackduck drops to 5-4.