GRAND FORKS - Mid-January isn't too early to start watching the standings.
Grand Forks Red River and Wahpeton stood one-two in the Eastern Dakota Conference boys basketball standings entering Friday night. The Roughriders remained unbeaten and extended their EDC lead by pulling away to defeat the visiting Huskies 75-60.
"We know where everyone is at (in the standings)," said senior Mack Arvidson, who had a team-leading 23 points for the Roughriders. "You know you want to come out harder in a game like this. We wanted to stay on top of the conference."
The second-ranked Riders improved to 6-0 in the conference and 8-0 overall while dropping fourth-ranked Wahpeton to 5-2 in the EDC and 6-2 overall.
Wahpeton was within 51-47 after Zayne Medhaug hit a layup with 9:42 remaining. But Red River answered with a 9-1 run to break the game open.
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Ricky Farroh got the spurt going with a pull-up jumper from the free-throw line. Arvidson followed with a steal and dunk, then hit a long trey from the top of the key. After a Wahpeton free throw, Matt Anderson scored on an offensive-rebound putback.
"The big thing (in the run) was getting some stops," Riders coach Jason Gregory said. "The dunk was a momentum thing. It gets the kids pumped up. You don't see dunks every day in high school ball."
Wahpeton managed to get back to within 64-57 before Red River rattled off 11 straight points, the first seven by Mac Kroeplin.
The finish was the opposite of the start. Wahpeton jumped to leads of 12-2 and 21-8 in the early going, as Red River went almost seven minutes before getting its first rebound. But the Riders closed the half on a 7-2 run to go up 36-34 and never trailed in the second half.
Half: RR 36, W 34
W: Sirek 3, Wetzel 4, Bontjes 23, Christensen 7, Medhaug 3, Pratt 5, Miller 8, Holkup 7
RR: Farroh 12, Arvidson 23, Mi. Anderson 4, Kemnitz 2, Ma. Anderson 6, Kroeplin 18, Hoplin 10
DeVillers writes for the Grand Forks Herald
