The Sacred Heart Eagles Girls Basketball team were locked into an all-out battle with the East Grand Forks Green Wave, and a layup by Lexi Lawrence with 10 seconds to go won the game for the Eagles, as they held on to win by a score of 62-60 at the East Grand Forks-Sacred Heart High School Gymnasium on Monday night.
FIRST HALF –
Sacred Heart started the game hot, making three of their first four shots, including three-pointers from Lydia Riskey and Finley Horken. Then, after four free throws from Lexi Lawrence, the Eagles quickly had a 12-4 lead in the first three minutes of the game. EGF got the lead down to four before a Leah Sundby three-pointer gave the Eagles a 15-8 lead, and from there the Eagles couldn’t miss. Sundby hit another three-pointer, Lawrence and Horken made more free throws, and Ella Arntson hit a shot, and all of a sudden the Eagles had a 26-13 lead with 10 minutes to go in the half. The Eagles got the lead all the way to 30-13, and that’s when the Green Wave began to battle back, going on a 6-0 run with the help of Tatem Votava to cut the lead to 30-19. The Green Wave could not stay out of foul trouble, however, as even more free throws put Sacred Heart back up by double figures. With seven minutes left, Votava hit a deep one to cut the lead to 32-24, and the lead hovered around there until EGF hit a three-pointer to cut the lead to five points with four minutes to go. This became a 19-4 run for the Green Wave after a free throw and a breakaway layup cut the lead to 34-32. In the final two minutes, the Eagles hit three free throws to go up five points, and the final minute ended scoreless, meaning that Sacred Heart took a 37-32 lead into the half.
SECOND HALF –
Both teams hit their first two shots of the second half, with EGF hitting a three to cut the lead to 41-37. Horken hit a three-pointer to put the Eagles up seven points, and then, after a couple of scoreless minutes, a Votava putback cut the lead back down to five points, with Votava scoring the first seven EGF points of the half. The lead hovered around that number, and then, with the Eagles up 48-41, both teams went ice cold with multiple missed shots and turnovers. Finally, EGF hit a free throw to make it 48-42 Eagles with 10:23 left, and after an EGF timeout, Lillie Thorvilson hit a jumper to cut the lead to 4. Lexi Lawrence responded with a layup, but Votava answered with a three-point play, cutting the lead down to three points. However, Sacred Heart fought back with consecutive layups to go up 54-47. At 54-48, Izzy Cwikla hit two free throws to put the Eagles up 8, and the lead hovered around there until Lexi Lawrence hit a shot to put the Eagles up 58-49 with just over 5 minutes to play. EGF hit back-to-back layups to cut the lead to 5, and after an Eagle timeout, a putback layup cut the lead down to three points. Horken answered with a layup, and then there were no points until there were 48 seconds left, when EGF hit two free throws to cut the lead to three points. Then, with 25 seconds left, Kayla Carpenter hit a three-pointer to tie the game at 60. Sacred Heart got the last shot, and Lexi Lawrence hit it with 10 seconds left, and the defense stood tall to allow the Eagles to hold on for a 62-60 win.
Sacred Heart improves to 21-4 on the season, winning its 12th straight game. The Eagles take on Climax-Fisher in Fisher on Tuesday to wrap up the regular season. EGF drops to 15-9 on the year.
J.V. – EGF won 50-47
| 1st | 2nd | Final | |
| East Grand Forks | 32 | 28 | 60 |
| Sacred Heart | 37 | 25 | 62 |
| For Sacred Heart | Points |
| Lexi Lawrence | 20 |
| Finley Horken | 12 |
| Lydia Riskey | 7 |
| Brynn Stevens | 7 |
| Leah Sundby | 6 |
| Izzy Cwikla | 6 |
| Ella Arntson | 4 |
| For East Grand Forks | Points |
| Tatem Votava | 19 |
| Lanee Hams | 13 |
| Jerzey Perkerewicz | 7 |
| Kayla Carpenter | 6 |
| Hayden Berg | 5 |
| Lillie Thorvilson | 4 |
| Kelsey Spilde | 2 |
| Camille Julien | 2 |
| Geeba Jordheim | 1 |
