East Grand Forks girls basketball team outlasts Grand Forks Central 52-44

EAST GRAND FORKS – After Grand Forks Central scored just 10 points in the first half, the East Grand Forks defense bent but didn’t break as the Green Wave were able to stop a second-half surge from the Knights en route to a 52-44 win on Friday night.

Sophomore guard Lauren Reardon led the way for Central in the second half, totaling 25 points in the frame. She became a problem in the transition game for the Green Wave, with multiple instances of stolen inbound passes for points or a trip to the line.

“They brought the intensity and we didn’t match it in the second half and that’s where they made a run. We have to learn from that. We were intense the first half, but flat the second half,” East Grand Forks coach Dennis Carpenter said.

The real trouble started just past the halfway point of the latter half. Leading 38-28, EGF gave up a pair of quick buckets from Reardon. This was followed by back-and-forth missed opportunities for two minutes.

Then, with six minutes left, Reardon found Jhazlyn Wynne just under the arc for two. Right on time, Reardon followed that up with a steal on the inbound pass and a score to make it a three-point game.

With five minutes left East Grand Forks Addison Kujawa and Alison Kovar were able to create some momentum with the junior Kovar finishing off a layup feed from the sophomore Kujawa for in-close points.

The pair combined for 29 points on the night with the rest of the starters also mixing in on the offense.

“We have a lot of young girls who haven’t played a lot of minutes at the varsity level, so the chemistry has to be there. We are not very big so we have to make sure that we box out every single night,” said Carpenter.

Aside from Reardon taking down a defensive rebound and going coast-to-coast with it to make it a one-score game, boards were what sealed the deal for the Green Wave.

After Tatem Votava knocked down a layup, Kujawa cleaned up an offensive rebound to extend the EGF lead to 46-41. Votava and Mattison also picked up clutch offensive rebounds in the final minute to put the game out of reach.

“Defensively we work hard, we get after things. That’s one of the things we talk a lot about at practice and in games. We have to bring it, especially with being so small. We have to be a little bit scrappy,” said Carpenter.

The next highest point scorer for the Knights was Emiley Gereau with six.

East Grand Forks now waits to take on Stephen-Argyle on Monday, while Grand Forks Central will travel to Fargo to meet Davies on Tuesday.

1/5: Grand Forks Central head girls basketball coach Andrayah Adams, center, talks with her players during a nonconference matchup against the East Grand Forks Green Wave at East Grand Forks Senior High School on Friday, December 2, 2022.

2/5: Green Wave forward Camryn Adams (15) sprints for a breakaway layup in the first half of a nonconference girls basketball matchup against Grand Forks Central at East Grand Forks Senior High School on Friday, December 2, 2022.

3/5: Grand Forks Central forward Aspen Thompson scraps with the Green Wave's Addison Kujawa, center left, and Ellie Marcott, right, for possession of the ball in the first half of a girls basketball game at East Grand Forks Senior High School on Friday, December 2, 2022.

4/5: East Grand Forks Senior High's Alison Kovar (1) drives the ball against Grand Forks Central guard Morgan Hallgren (4) in the first half of a girls basketball game at Est Grand Forks Senior High School on Friday, December 2, 2022.

5/5: East Grand Forks Senior High's Addison Kujawa (20) fights through the Grand Forks Central Knights defense for a first-half layup during a nonconference girls basketball game at East Grand Forks Senior High School on Friday, December 2, 2022.