No. 4 Grand Forks Red River hangs on to beat Fargo North 73-68

Dec. 10—GRAND FORKS — With the game on the line in the final two minutes between Grand Forks Red River and Fargo North, the Roughriders had their full arsenal of standout players and the Spartans did not.

Red River's Zachary Kraft and Reis Rowekamp made the right plays down the stretch as North's Jeremiah Sem sat on the bench with his fifth foul.

That dynamic played a big role in No. 4 Red River holding off Fargo North 73-68 on Friday night at the Red River gym.

Rowekamp, Kraft and Sem were all among the top 12 in the EDC in scoring last season, with Sem finishing second at more than 23.0 points per game.

In the matchup on Friday, Rowekamp and Kraft each attempted 20 shots. Kraft finished with 25 points, while Rowekamp had 20.

Sem, who was held to three points in the first half, ended with 12 points in 20 minutes.

From the start, the Riders set out to give Sem extra attention in addition to the one-on-one defense of Rowekamp, a 6-foot-4 senior.

"We did an excellent job on him," Red River coach Kirby Krefting said. "He had to sit on the bench for a while."

Sem picked up his fourth foul with almost 17 minutes left in the second half.

He exited the game shortly after picking up his fourth and didn't return until six minutes left in the game.

However, the Spartans didn't wither without Sem. Instead, they went on a huge run.

With Sem on the bench, North went on a 13-0 run in the second half — flipping a 50-40 deficit with 13:55 to go into a 53-50 lead with 9:02 remaining.

Carter Zeller and David Shilling keyed the run. Zeller finished 10-for-13 from the field for a team-high 22 points, while Shilling added nine points and six rebounds.

"They got to the basket and kicked it out," Krefting said. "They hit three 3's in a row, and they weren't contested."

North coach Travis Hoeg was pleased with how his team handled the foul trouble adversity.

"I thought it was a game of runs," Hoeg said. "We had a couple of guys get in foul trouble so we had to play with lineups we aren't used to. I was really happy with how we played in there. It gives me confidence as a coach when my best player isn't on the floor we can compete with one of the best teams in North Dakota. They're one of the best in the state as far as I'm concerned. Give Red River credit. They have some real nice players, and they played their butts off. It was a good battle."

Thanks to the 13-0 run, the Spartans went back-and-forth trading leads and momentum with Red River right down to the final moments.

After Sem came back with six minutes to go, he heated up fast. He scored on a runner, a deep 3-pointer from about 25 feet and a lob dunk in transition — scoring seven points in two minutes to tie the game at 62-62 with 3:20 left.

After Kraft hit a top-of-the-key 3-pointer to take a 65-62 lead with 2:23 left, Sem picked up his fifth foul when he hit the hand of Pearce Parks on a 3-point attempt.

Parks, who ended with 18 points, hit two of three free throws to give his team a five-point edge with 1:55 left.

North had one more chance at a comeback when Matthew Sem, Jeremiah's brother, picked up a steal. He was fouled as he finished the turnover into a basket to cut the Red River lead to 68-66 with 52 seconds to go.

However, as Matthew Sem reacted to the play, he was whistled for a technical foul.

After Matthew Sem, who ended with 17 points, missed his three-point play free-throw chance, Kraft shot the two technical free throws and hit both.

So instead of a chance to cut the Red River lead to one, the technical eventually boosted the Riders' advantage to four.

The Spartans were unable to cut the lead under four the rest of the way.

Red River improved to 2-0, while North dropped to 1-2.

Halftime: Red River 40, North 34

Fargo North — Carter Zeller 22, Matthew Sem 17, Jeremiah Sem 12, David Schilling 9, Ethan Welk 4, Jose Rose 2, Victor Busanga 2

GF Red River — Zac Kraft 25, Reis Rowekamp 20, Pearce Parks 18, Carter Byron 7, Logan Arason 3