FARGO -- Once rivals, a pair of current and future teammates led the girls Class A All-Stars to a 78-71 victory over the Class B All-Stars in the North Dakota Lions All-Star basketball series Wednesday at the Fargo Civic Center.
Madi Buck and Siri Burck, both incoming freshman at UND, jump-started the Class A offense and avenged Tuesday's loss.
Buck, a forward from Bismarck Century, led the charge down the stretch by scoring eight points in the final six minutes.
Burck, a standout forward at Fargo South, grabbed nine rebounds and added eight assists.
Late in the game, Class A had a 70-67 lead over Class B.
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Eli Benz brought Class B within two points with a free throw with 2 minutes, 25 seconds left.
Buck then drained two straight field goals, bringing the score to 74-68 and putting the game out of reach.
"I wanted to come out more aggressive and prove to people what I can do," Buck said. "It was nice to come out and prove that we can split it. Class B is a really good team."
Class B defeated Class A 85-72 in the first game of the two-game series Tuesday in Bismarck.
Class A hit 45 percent of its field goals while limiting Class B to just 33 percent.
Miranda Zavalney of Williston led Class A with 18 points.
"They responded by coming out quicker on our shots," Class B head coach Barb Kraft said. "They had a bigger team and they slowed the tempo down."
Emily Evers of Grand Forks Red River will join Buck and Burck at UND. Evers injured her foot on the opening tipoff and did not play the rest of the game.
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Class B jumped out to an early 8-2 lead with 16 minutes left in the first half.
Class A fought back, tying the game 9-9 when Chelsea Lingle was fouled as she drained a field goal near the basket. Lingle made the free throw to give Class A the lead, and they never trailed after that point.
"We had to totally revamp the things we were trying to do right away," Class A head coach Ron Metz said. "We changed some things up offensively and that seemed to work for us."
The end of the game signaled a new beginning for Buck and Burck. The two will not only be teammates at UND, but also roommates.
"I think that we work well together. (Siri) is a great point guard," Buck said. "We'll have a good 4-5 years together."
The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead and the Herald are Forum Communications Co. newspapers.
