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CITY  (NewsDakota.com)—After Mason Denholm stroked a second three-point shot in the second half, the Hi-Liners were rolling toward their first Eastern Dakota Conference (EDC) win of the year.

Denholm’s shot gave Valley City a 25-10 lead in one of the strangest games played in the shot-clock era.  The Hi-Liners and West Fargo had combined for only 25 first-half points, and the Packers had scored only 10 points in 22 minutes.

West Fargo had no inside game.  They had no way to attack Valley City’s 1-3-1 zone, and they had shot just 16% from the field in the first half.

But they had not yet shown the full extent of their pressure defense.

What followed Denholm’s shot was a 17-0 run by West Fargo, giving the Packers a 27-25 lead, their first since the game was 2-1.  The run was part of a game-ending 35-9 run that spanned 14 minutes and led the Packers to a 45-34 win in West Fargo.

Valley City was simply shell-shocked by the Packer defense, forcing bad post-entry pass after bad post-entry pass, and finding no way to inbound the ball.  Valley City committed 17 turnovers, an entire games worth, in the second half.  The Hi-Liners managed just 17 field goal attempts after halftime.

While the loss was an ugly loss, the Packer win was just as ugly.  West Fargo was held to just eight points at halftime on their home floor, did not get a free throw attempt till the second half, then missed their first four from the line, and committed 32 turnovers of their own.

The difference in the game was speed.  Joey Halgrimson, likely the most athletic Hi-Liner, played less than 12 minutes, toiling in foul trouble in both halves.

With Halgrimson out, West Fargo ratcheted up their defensive pressure, double-teaming the ball in all spots on the floor.  The sizey Hi-Liner posts had no room to operate, and rarely got the ball from the guards.

Chase Carpenter had a game-high 17 points, but seemed to resist playing to his strengths after having early shots blocked.  Denholm’s three-point shots led him to eight points, and no other Hi-Liner scored more than three.

The Hi-Liners drop to 2-4 overall, 0-4 in EDC play.  They play at Jamestown December 29th.

Valley City           17           17—34
West Fargo         8             37—45

Valley City:  Carpenter, 17; Denholm, 8; Joyce, 3; Lentz, 3; Heck, 2; Magnuson, 1.

West Fargo:  Heiszler, 10; Evenson, 6; Mattila, 6; Rotert, 6; Wolden, 5; Althoff, 2; Hogenson, 2; Johnson, 2; Sufi, 2; Young, 2.

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