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N.D. (NewsDakota.com) Looking to get back to .500 before the Christmas break, the Hi-Liner girls basketball took to the court at Fargo South for an Eastern Dakota Conference match up with the Bruins. Unfortunately, It was the Bruins who would get the better of the Hi-liners 49-44 capturing their first win of the season.

Valley City got out to the early lead going on a 14-4 run to start the game. However, with the size of the Bruins bigs (Emily Stroup 5’11 and Nya Chakin 6’3) the home team kept themselves in the game with rebounds on the offensive side of the court. With the outside shooting of Madie Erickson who led all players with 13 points in the game, the Bruins would work their way back into the lead midway through the first. With strong cross-court passing the Bruins worked past the full court press of the Hi-Liners taking a first half lead of 27-9.

The Hi-Liners best chance to take back the lead came at the middle mark of the second half when South’s leading scorer , Erickson, fouled out of the game. The Hi-Liners momentum wouldn’t last long though. On the back of a seven point half from Chakin, the Bruins would keep Valley at bay.

The Hi-Liners would cut the lead to five with 44 seconds remaining when Brenna Dieterle hit a shot just in front of the net. As the time ran down, Fargo South did an impressive job playing keep away from the Hi-Liners to claim the first win of the year.

In the loss the Hi-Liners were led by Clair Olson who tallied 12 points. Brenna Dieterle was the only other Hi-Liner in double digits. She had 11 in the game.

The loss drops Valley to 1-3 on the year. They return home on December 27th when they host Jamestown High in a girls/boys double header. Those games can be heard on 1490 KOVC and ESPN AM 1400 in Jamestown.