Maybe it was senior night.
Perhaps it was the cross-town rivalry.
Whatever it was, the East Grand Forks Senior High girls basketball team came out with a full head of steam to defeat Grand Forks Red River 64-50 on Friday night in the Senior High gymnasium.
"We came out and put full pressure on the ball," Senior High coach Durene Frydenlund said. "I was happy with our performance tonight. From the beginning of the game, we played with a lot of intensity."
Alicia Olson and Briana Scanlan each scored 15 points to lead Senior High, which improved to 21-3.
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"Our inside-outside game was on tonight," Olson said. "We have good shooters and good post players. That gave us the win."
Senior High opened the game on an 8-2 run and closed out the first half with 13-3 run to lead 34-23 at halftime.
"(Senior High) came out and played a lot harder than us in the first half," Red River coach Justin Schommer said. "They played very aggressive and knocked down the open shots."
Senior High started the second half with a 12-4 run.
Red River responded midway through the half with baskets from Holly Asche and Katie Thorson to bring the Roughriders within 14 points.
Senior High then put Red River away on a Betsy Smith jumper followed by an Olson three-point play and another Olson bucket underneath. That spurt put the Green Wave up 53-32.
"We've been coming into each game with more and more intensity," Frydenlund said. "Everybody on the team has gained a lot of confidence. That's a positive for this time of year."
Red River, 9-9, was led by Katie Johnke's 11 points. Betsy Weisenberger chipped in 10 points.
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"We need to learn how to play the full game," Schommer said. "You can't expect to win games when you're fighting back through big holes all the time."
Frydenlund said: "This is a great win for our seniors and most important our team. I couldn't ask for a better group of girls. They have played hard for me all year long."
