FARGO – Fargo Shanley head boys basketball coach Shane Alderman said his squad is committing to defense early on this season.
Tuesday’s game against Fargo South was the Deacons’ first chance to put its defense to work, and the opening effort ended up being a positive result as Shanley claimed a 72-43 Eastern Dakota Conference victory over South at McCormick Gymnasium.
“We have been practicing our defense a lot early on this season,” said Shanley senior guard Matt Wolbaum, who led all scorers with 24 points. “We played very hard and kept forcing them into pressure the whole game. We played very good team defense.”
Shanley (1-0, 1-0 EDC) held the Bruins without a field goal the first 7 minutes, 56 seconds of the game and led 36-17 at halftime.
“Our effort was good,” Alderman said. “We got a lot of steals and deflections, which are things we are charting as a team this year. We didn’t give South a lot of easy shots during the game, and we contested many of their attempts. I feel if we continue to improve on defense each game, the toughness we gain by doing that will payoff for us later in the season.”
ADVERTISEMENT
The Deacons also got production from beyond the arc. Shanley connected for 11 total 3-pointers in the game.
Wolbaum accounted for four of the 3-pointers. Seniors Kelvin Caga and Tre Fort each added three 3-pointers in the game.
Shanley lost standout 3-point shooter Patrick Strom to graduation, and Alderman said the Deacons’ perimeter play will need to be more of a committee this season.
“Matt, Kelvin and Tre all hit some big shots for us, and I think that is going to be a fun part about this season, watching who all steps up for us,” Alderman said. “If (our perimeter game) is by committee, I think that will be one of the biggest reasons we have success this season.”
Caga finished with 14 points and Fort ended the game with 13 points.
South struggled early on and never found a steady stream off offense in the first half.
The Bruins (0-2, 0-2 EDC) graduated all five of their starters from last year’s team that qualified for the state tournament.
“It is game No. 2 for us, and the kids are working hard,” South head coach Mike Hendrickson said. “We just can’t seem to get over the hump right now, but I see it coming soon for us. Shanley is a deep team with experience returning from last year’s team and in this game you gain a lot through experience.”
ADVERTISEMENT
Junior guard Bucky Skiple led the Bruins with 21 points.
Half: S 36, FS 17
FARGO SOUTH: Weiler 1, Hagen 2, Hovden 6, Skiple 21, Rozelle 4, Taber 4, Cure 2, Zozimo 3.
SHANLEY: Caga 14, Garang 5, Rotunda 2, Fort 13, Wolbaum 24, Mizero 4, Dauenhauer 4, Wolfe 2, Kava 2, Noack 2.
