Red River girls pick up season sweep over Central with 70-41 win

GRAND FORKS — Grand Forks Red River took care of Grand Forks Central in the first half and never looked back in its 70-41 girls basketball win on Thursday.

Two separate 14-2 runs in the opening half put things out of reach for the Knights early. Sophomores Rylie McQuillan picked up 8 points, 2 rebounds, a steal and an assist in the opening 18 minutes and Jocelyn Schiller matched with 8 points of her own, as well as 6 steals, 4 rebounds and 4 assists.

Turnovers would be the game-changer for the Roughriders. In the first half alone they collected 15 as a team while forcing 19 total Central turnovers.

“Our full-court defense was really good early. A lot of the time it leads to some easy baskets for us but even in the half-court, we found some open players to knock some shots down. Pretty soon you have a nice lead like we had,” Red River head coach Kent Ripplinger said.

That lead sat at 46-12 at the end of the first half, but Central was able to match its first-half point total in eight minutes in the next half. Lauren Reardon was the most dynamic Knight on the floor and she finished the day with 9 points, 7 rebounds and 4 assists.

Morgan Hallgren led all Central scorers with 10, with the majority of those points coming in the opening minutes of the second half.

Schiller, McQullian and Hannah Litzinger would continue to pour on for Red River. They combined for 12 points in the second half and did just enough to make sure there was no threat of a Central comeback.

“Its all about execution and we talked about that at the beginning of the game, too,” Ripplinger said. “This is the time of year we need to start executing our stuff both defensively and offensively. Every game has to be better as we try to grow and get a little better as the year rolls along.”

Now 8-2 in conference play, Red River sits 1.5 games back of 10-1 Fargo Davies. They’ll look to climb up back to that top EDC spot with games against Fargo South on Saturday and Devils Lake on Monday.

1/3: Red River's Jocelyn Schiller sprints down the court at Grand Forks Central High School as Knights guard Morgan Hallgren, left, paces her late in the first half of a crosstown rivalry girls basketball game on Thursday, January 27, 2022.

2/3: Grand Forks Central's Lauren Reardon keeps Red River guard Rylie McQuillan (24) at bay while searching for a teammate to pass to in the first half of a crosstown rivalry girls basketball game at Grand Forks Central High School on Thursday, January 27, 2022.

3/3: Grand Forks Central guard Lauren Reardon (31) tussles with Red River's Ella Nowatzki and Emily Robson (15) for possession of the ball in the first half of a crosstown rivalry girls basketball matchup at Grand Forks Central High School on Thursday, January 27, 2022.

First half – GFRR 46, GFC 12

GFRR – Jocelyn Schiller 13, Rylie McQuillan 13, Hannah Litzinger 11, Ella Speidel 6, Emily Robson 6, Cassidy O’Halloran 6, Morgan Hartze 5, Brianna Hendrickson 4, Ella Nowatzki 4, Maggie Barker 4

GFC – Maggie Hallgren 10, Lauren Reardon 9, Kiara Holweger 6, Ashley Gereau 5, Marin Aure 3, Allison Dub 3, Emiley Gereau 2, Emily Arnold 2