The Fargo South girls basketball team flashed how devasting it can be in the second half Saturday at the Fargo Shanley gym.
"I was so impressed with how aggressive we played the entire half," South coach Craig Flaagan said.
Trailing 26-24 at halftime, the Bruins exploded for 59 points in the last two quarters to score an 83-48 victory against the Deacons in Eastern Dakota Conference action.
The Bruins' strong second half started with defense as South forced 17 Shanley turnovers in the second half, using three-quarter and half-court pressure.
South converted its steals into easy baskets as it shot 59 percent (19 of 32) from the field in the second half.
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"We've been working on our defensive pressure in practice," said South junior Melanie Hageman, who scored a game-high 26 points. "In the third quarter it broke through and we finally started to click."
The Bruins (4-3 overall, 3-1 EDC) trailed by two points early in the third quarter before ripping off runs of seven, 12 and eight consecutive points.
Shanley (4-4, 3-2) turned the ball over 12 times in the third, helping fuel the Bruins' 33-point outburst in that span.
"I don't think it was heavy focus, but we kind of lost our focus and deflated a little bit," Shanley coach Barry Anderson said. "It was kind of one of those situations where the flood gates opened a little bit. We're trying to learn to get over that when bad things like that happen."
Hageman was at the center of the Bruins' strong second half, scoring 18 points in the last two quarters. But she was not alone as four other teammates scored at least six points after halftime.
"Hopefully, we'll be able to take what we did in the second half and carry that into the next game and start to win a string of games," Hageman said.
"I'll take a second half like that all the time," Flaagan added. "That was by far the best half of basketball we've played all season."
Flaagan was also impressed with the play of Hageman, who ripped down 11 rebounds to go with her game-high scoring output.
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"That's the way she is," Flaagan said. "She always plays at full speed and works hard. She's tough to stop when she's getting after it."
Shanley hung with the Bruins through the first 18 minutes and led by as many as four points in the second quarter. But the Deacons couldn't maintain their play in the second half.
"We got beat by a good team," Anderson said. "We know we can play with a good team, we just have to get 32 minutes of basketball out."
South 11 24 57 83
Shanley 11 26 34 48
SOUTH: Kruckenberg 3 1-2 8, Hageman 9 8-9 26, Salzwedel 2 2-4 8, Hannaher 2 3-4 7, Trautwein 3 1-3 7, Dobmeier 0 0-0 0, Odegaard 0 2-2 2, Flaagan 5 1-2 11, Kraft 2 4-4 10, Thingelstad 1 2-2 4, Schroeder 0 0-0 0, Tharaldson 0 0-0 0. Totals 27-62 24-32 83.
SHANLEY: Faller 2 2-3 6, Montler 2 0-0 4, Sargent 1 2-2 5, Varriano 2 1-2 5, Geffre 4 9-13 17, Sampson 2 1-2 5, Bodensteiner 3 0-0 6, Frappier 0 0-0 0, Krejci 0 0-0 0. Totals 16-58 15-22 48.
3-point goals: Kruckenberg, Salzwedel 2, Kraft 2, Sargent. Total fouls: South 19, Shanley 23. Fouled out: Varriano. Technical fouls: Varriano. Rebounds: South 34 (Hageman 11), Shanley 32 (Geffre 10). Turnovers: South 15, Shanley 23.
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Readers can reach Forum reporter Eric Peterson at (701) 241-5513
