South advances to Semi-finals with win over Mandan

Fargo South advanced to the semi-finals for the 3rd straight season, posting a solid 78-58 win over perennial power Mandan in the opening round of the Class A state tournament in Bismarck. After some early game jitters showed up, the Bruins experienced lineup settled in and got things going. After trailing 10-5 to start the game, the Bruins went on a 15-0 run, thanks to some three point shooting by junior Alley Fisher, who nailed 3 threes in the opening half, and some tough inside baskets by Siri Burck and Meghan Roehrich. All three girls hit double figures by halftime. Raquel Wellentin also had a nice first half, scoring on a pair of baseline jumpers. By halftime, the Bruins had built up a 41-27 lead. In the second half, the Bruins showcased their passing skills, as they had numerous nifty interior passes for some easy inside baskets. Meghan Roehrich found Siri Burck on a nice interior pass, and Siri also had a great tip pass to Jasmine Moffett for a hoop. The Bruins built the lead to twenty points at 57-37 with 10 minutes left in the game and looked to be in firm control, but Mandan made things interesting by going on an 8-0 run in just over a minute of playing time to get back into the game. But the Bruins were not going to let this one get away. South got an inside basket by Raquel Wellentin, a long three pointer by Meghan Roehrich, and then back to back three point plays by Siri Burck and Alley Fisher to stretch the lead back out to 70-50, and for all practical purposes, that stretch ended the game. On an individual note, Meghan Roehrich continued her record breaking season by becoming the most prolific scorer in Fargo South hisotry. Meghan's 5th point of the night, scored early in the game on a free throw, moved her past Laura Kelly into first place on South's all time career scoring list. Meghan finished the night with 24 points, giving her 1124 points, surpassing the 1104 of Kelly set in 1994. Joining Meghan in double figures was Alley Fisher with 21 points and Siri Burck with 19, who also had her third double-double in the last 4 games with 12 rebounds. The win moves South's record to 20-3, and they will take on 21-2 Red River for the right to play for a state championship Friday night at 8:30.

See the complete boxscore here
See the play by play here

Boxscore:
Fargo South: Roehrich 7 9-15 24, Burck 7 5-6 19, Fisher 8 1-3 21, Wellentin 3 2-5 8, Moffett1 2 2-2 6; Totals 27 19-33 78, Three point goals: Fisher 4. Roehrich

Mandan: Longtin 3 1-2 9, Miller 0 2-2 2, Helmers 6 3-5 17, Pederson 4 3-5 11, Berger 0 2-2 2, Meyer 5 1-1 11, Winkler 1 2-2 4; Totals: 20 14-19 58, Three point goals: Helmers 2, Longtin 2

Fouled out: Longtin, Pederson; Total Fouls: South 16, M 25; Rebounds: South 35(Burck 12), M 38(Meyer 7), Assists: South 16(Burck 7), M 13(Meyer 3), Steals: South 8(Roehrich, Moffett 2), M 5; Turnovers: South 13, M 16