Pick your Mac(k) poison.
On Tuesday, Grand Forks Red River senior Mack Arvidson went off for a season-high 34 points to beat Fargo Shanley, the No. 4-ranked team in North Dakota Class A boys basketball.
When Fargo Davies came to the Roughriders' gym Friday night, the Eagles were hell-bent on slowing down Arvidson.
Enter Mac Kroeplin.
Kroeplin, Arvidson's backcourt mate, poured in his season high of 28 points to lift the Riders to a 70-60 win over Davies in front of one of the largest home crowds in recent memory.
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The Riders, the state's unanimous No. 1 team, improved to 14-0. Red River came into the day winning by an average margin of 18 points per game.
"When you start to worry about Mack Arvidson, Mac Kroeplin steps up," said Davies coach Bart Manson, a former Red River coach. "Red River is the most athletic team I've seen in Class A in a while. They have five guys who can all put it on the floor and do some things."
The 6-foot-2 Kroeplin hurt the Eagles inside and out. Kroeplin drilled four 3-pointers and also muscled his way down low for a number of buckets in the paint.
"The past few games, I've posted up more," said Kroeplin, who came into the night averaging 18 points, 7.7 assists and 5 rebounds. "I feel comfortable anywhere."
Kroeplin, who leads the region in assists, utilizes his court vision to become weapon in the post.
"If he's doubled, he finds the open guy," Red River coach Jason Gregory said. "If you single him, he's got a good chance to score.
"We've told him there are going to be games he needs to score more. He's improved a lot this year on understanding when and where to pass and shoot. He does whatever it takes to make the team successful."
Kroeplin, who finished in double-figures scoring for the 13th time this year, was joined in double digits by Arvidson and John Hoplin with 11 points apiece. Ricky Farroh chipped in nine.
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Davies was led by sophomore guard Andrew Kozlowski, who had 17 points.
The Eagles finished the first half on a 10-3 run to close the gap to 33-29 at the intermission.
"You almost have to play a perfect game against Red River," said Manson, whose team dropped to 7-6. "The first eight possessions of the second half we got nothing out of. That set the tone for the second half."
The Eagles hung close due in part to good free-throw shooting. The Eagles were 25-for-31 from the foul line, while the Riders were just 11 of 22.
The many whistles led to a choppy pace, Gregory said.
"It was excellent to see all of the people there," he said. "I wish they could have had a better game to watch."
The Riders have home games against Valley City, West Fargo, Grand Forks Central and Fargo North before finishing the regular-season Feb. 21 at Wahpeton.
"We come out and try to play our best every game," Kroeplin said. "We don't expect anything less."
