FOSSTON STARTS THE GAME ON FIRE, CRUISES TO A WIN OVER FERTILE-BELTRAMI

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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