The Fosston Greyhounds were on fire at the start of the game and built a big lead, and never looked back on their way to a 76-54 victory over the Fertile-Beltrami Falcons in the Section 8A semi-final played at Ralph Englestad Arena in Thief River Falls.
FIRST HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami scored the first points of the game when Ryan Van Den Einde scored in the paint for a 2-0 lead. Fosston responded in a big way with a 19-2 run with two easy baskets from Zach Theis, a three-pointer from Darren Skala. After a Falcon basket by Caiden Swenby, Fosston scored 16 straight points with seven points from Skala, Theis added four, Hudson Boushee added a three-pointer, and Cullen Norland made a basket, and the Greyhounds led 23-4 with 9:51 left in the half. Fertile-Beltrami finally broke the run with a Swenby three-pointer. Fosston continued to dominate the game and built on their lead, and Skala hit a three-pointer at the buzzer to take a 43-17 lead into halftime.
SECOND HALF –
Fertile-Beltrami picked up the offense and outscored Fosston 16-11 in the first six minutes of the half, but trailed 54-33. Fosston’s Aaron Norland made a runner with a kiss off the glass, and the Greyhounds stopped Fertile-Beltrami before coming back with another Aaron Norland basket for a 58-33 lead. Swenby made a three-pointer, and the Falcons followed with another basket to get within a 58-38 deficit. Fosston bounced back to build a 62-38 lead with eight minutes left in the game. The Falcons chipped away at the deficit, and after a Swenby made a three-pointer with 5:21 remaining, Fertile-Beltrami trailed 67-49. Fosston would work the ball on the offensive end and scored after taking a minute of the clock, and both teams went deep into the bench in the final minutes. The Greyhounds cruised the rest of the way and won 76-54 to advance to the championship on Friday night.
Fertile-Beltrami’s season comes to an end with a 22-7 record and they say goodbye to one senior, Ryan Van Den Einde. Fosston improves to 25-5 on the year and will play the winner of Sacred Heart and Warren-Alvarado-Oslo on Friday night.
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1st
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2nd
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Final
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Fertile-Beltrami | 17 | 37 | 54 |
Fosston | 43 | 33 | 76 |
For Fertile-Beltrami
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Points
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Rebounds
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Assists/Steals
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Caiden Swenby | 27 | 6 | 3 assists |
Preston Hanson | 7 | 4 | |
Ryan Van Den Einde | 6 | 2 | |
Derek Sorenson | 6 | ||
Isaiah Wright | 5 | 3 | 1 steal |
Masen Nowacki | 3 | 2 assists |
For Fosston
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Points
|
Darren Skala | 24 |
Zach Theis | 22 |
Aaron Norland | 6 |
Cullen Norland | 6 |
Hudson Boushee | 6 |
Anthony Carlin | 6 |
Carsen Boushee | 5 |
Thatcher Palubicki | 1 |
