It's amazing how much can change in an hours time. Already having seen them a few times this season, I went to South with the thought that the home team is the favorite to earn the fourth spot at state. That may still prove to be the case because of what was shown tonight, but 36 minutes of action later and skepticism was also shown to be warranted. Before going too much further on that, here's how the game unfolded.
The Bruins jumped out to a 6-0 lead and then stretched it to 11-5 after Wahpeton closed the gap. In the three minutes that followed that they hit their first double-digit lead of the game, 19-9. Their advantage continued to grow, then, after it hit 36-17, the Huskies dropped seven in a minute to bring it back to a dozen.
An intentional foul call and a three by Bakarr Fullah got South back on track but the teams closed out the half with equal offense so the win remained up for grabs by each.
Out of the break Wahpeton again got the deficit down to a dozen. The Bruins answered with an 11-1 spurt to go ahead by the widest margin of the evening 66-44.
Just as suddenly as that happened, Wahpeton went on their own tear. Buoyed by foul trouble for South, Wahpeton scored 26 points to only nine. It was capped off by a four-shot trip to the free-throw line in which all of them were put through. At the same time Kam Arechigo had to take a seat, which only made the task of holding on all the tougher.
Over the three minutes that were left the Bruins found a way to do just that. With the odds against them, they showed that they're more than just their two all-conference level players. But as the open indicated, the second half also showed that they won't just be able to show up in order to capitalize on the talent they have.
South 86, Wahpeton 77
Of the eight players to contribute points for South, only two finished with less than eight. Fullah's 18, 16 in the first half, lead the way for them. A close second, Khamani Steckler finished with 17. Alex Saydee was third with 15 while Sibomana Enock & Arechigo had 12 & 11 respectively.
Wahpeton got all their points from six sources. A game-high 23 by Munezero Desire was accompanied by Tyler Tollefson's 16, Jaxon Berndt's 13 & Ethan Manock's 11. The secret sauce of their comeback was that they hit 25 of 31 free throws, including 15 in the second half. Whatever role officiating may have played in the foul disparity, that can't just be written off to that.
Believe it or not, he got that block
Click the pic to see the rest
Commenti