Down seven points with less than seven minutes remaining probably wasn't the ideal situation for East Grand Forks Senior High. The Green Wave didn't go into panic mode, however.
"We were confident we could come back,'' Green Wave senior Aaron Havis said. "We don't hang our heads.''
The confidence was justified. Senior High went on a game-closing 21-7 run to hand visiting Grand Forks Central a 68-61 boys basketball setback Thursday.
Two Jacob Ohnstad free throws with 6:52 remaining lifted Central to a 54-47 lead. Twenty seconds later, Christian Dugan hit a trey to start the game-ending spurt as Senior High's helter skelter pressure defense pushed the game into a frantic pace.
"We like to run,'' Havis said. "We started to press and we felt like Central was getting frustrated by it.''
ADVERTISEMENT
The Wave went ahead to stay on a 3-point play by Julian Benson with 4:09 remaining, the start of eight unanswered points as Senior High opened up its biggest lead of the game.
“Our defense won the game for us,’’ Senior High coach Josh Perkerwicz said. “The kids ramped up the pressure on defense. A lot. You could just feel the energy. It got momentum going for us.’’
Dugan’s 19 points led 2-3 Senior High, with Benson adding 15 and Havis 13. There was no focal point to the offense in the game-closing 21-7 spurt, as five players contributed points.
“We don’t have a go-to person,’’ Perkerwicz said. “Everyone has contributed. We had a game last week where we had five guys score in double figures. The kids were passing up good shots tonight, passing for better shots.’’
Central, which was trying to snap a 46-game losing streak stretched over the past three seasons, led by as many as nine points in the first half and answered every Senior High spurt in the second with one of its own until the final seven minutes.
“We moved the ball well early, were getting good shots and knocking them down,’’ Central coach Dan Carlson said. “But late in the game, we didn’t hit those shots.
“They (losses) are all frustrating, whether they’ve been by seven or by 35 points. We haven’t been in a position (leading late) like this very often lately. We didn’t handle it very well, the turnovers and the bad shots we were taking at the end. Senior High made plays down the stretch. We didn’t.’’
Debyn Johnson had a game-high 20 points with Ohnstad adding 16. Central dropped to 0-5 this season.
ADVERTISEMENT
