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losses to Grand Forks Central on Friday, the Valley City basketball teams had a quick turnaround as they traveled to Fargo to meet Fargo Davies. The Hi-Liner girls’ picked up a much-needed EDC win, while a strong 2nd half propelled Davies to a win in the boys’ contest.
Girls: Valley City 74, Davies 73
The Eagles’ size was matched by an up-tempo style by the Hi-Liners. Early on, Valley City used an effective press-break for some easy baskets. Eight points for Mariah Olstad, and a 3-point play from Dierra Diegel kept the Hi-Liners close. Davies countered with strong first-half performances from posts Jasmine Moffett and Lexi Bolstad. Moffett had 11 first points, while Bolstad added ten, including a pair of 3-pointers. Davies led 36-26 with 1:00 left in the first half. A Diegel basket off an inbounds play made it 36-28. Valley City received an unexpected jolt at the first-half buzzer, as Megan McDaniel’s 45-foot, desperation shot hit nothing but net to end the half. It was 36-31 Eagles at the break.
Valley City continued on that run with an 8-2 spurt to vault them to a 39-38 lead with 15:52 to play. The Eagles’ inside game responded, and Brook Hildre and Leah Klabo propelled Davies back in front 50-45. Hildre had ten 2nd-half points, and Klabo added eight off the bench. The Hi-Liners answered back with a 7-2 run to tie it. A Tori Enstad 3-pointer evened it at 52 with 9:16 left. The game stayed tight the rest of the way. A McDaniel 3-pointer gave the Hi-Liners a 70-69 lead with 1:42 left, and after a steal on the ensuing Eagles’ possession, added a pair of free throws to make it 72-69. Davies came right back, as a Lexi Bolstad driving lay-up made it 72-71. After Clarissa Olson missed the front end of a bonus from the foul line, Davies’ Jami Larson buried a jumper to give the Eagles a 73-72 lead with :30 to play.
The Hi-Liners elected to not call timeout, and forced the ball down low to Allyson Suhr. Suhr’s lay-up with :14 to play gave the Hi-Liners a 74-73 lead. With only three team fouls, Valley City elected to foul to stop the clock with 9.7 sedconds left. After Moffett’s missed three on the right wing, a jump ball gave the ball back to Davies with 2.1 seconds left. The Eagles looked for an inside look, but settled for a Klabo baseline jumper that was off the mark and gave the win to the Hi-Liners.
Each team had five players in double digits. Olstad led Valley City with 12 points. Diegel, McDaniel, and Jenna Jacob added 11, and Suhr 10. Moffett led Davies with 15 points, Hildred added 14, Klabo and Bolstad 12, and Larson 10.
The Hi-Liners are 6-6 overall, 4-5 in the EDC. Davies is now 7-7 overall, 6-7 in the EDC. The Eagles have lost three consecutive conference games.
Boys: Davies 85, Valley City 73
Early on, it looked as it could be a repeat of the Davies 100-57 rout of the Hi-Liners in Valley City on Jan. 16. The Eagles started out to a 13-4 lead. Valley City countered with a 12-0 run to lead 16-13. Chase Carpenter drilled a pair of 3-pointers as part of the run. Carpenter got very few early looks in the paint, and was forced to earn his points from the perimeter. Valley City held leads of 29-26 with 6:00 left and 37-34 with 2:30 to go in the first half. Foul trouble began to haunt Valley City. Tayler Lentz went to the bench with three fouls, after he had a strong first half with 10 points. Point guard Brandyn Heck also had three fouls, and backup Kyle Knutson went down with an ankle injury late in the 1st half. He did not return. Trailing 37-34, Davies forced three consecutive turnovers which led to five points. This was part of a 9-2 run to end the 1st half as Davies led 43-39 at the break. Nathan Rasmus had 16 to lead Davies in the opening half.
Some key contributions by the Eagles’ players were huge in the 2nd half. Guard Ryan Siewert was solid with three 3-pointers, and backups Connor Camrud and Eric Peterson assisted Davies standout center Brady Jordahl in controlling the inside. Camrud and Peterson had nine points each. Jordahl led the charge with 20 points and 12 rebounds. He had 15 in the 2nd half, including a breakaway dunk.
Valley City never mounted a serious comeback in the 2nd half. Carpenter led Valley City with 24 points before fouling out with 4:43 to play. Tayler Lentz added 18 off the bench, and Mason Denholm and Josh Magnuson each chipped in 13. Rasmus added 18, Siewert 17 for Davies. Both came into today’s game averaging 8 points per game.
Davies is now 8-6 overall, 7-6 in the EDC. The Eagles are tied for 5th place in the conference with South. Valley City remains winless in the EDC at 0-10, 3-11 overall. The Hi-Liners visit conference-leading Red River on Tuesday night in Grand Forks.
