Red Lake boys, girls edge Fosston at Sanford Center

BEMIDJI - The Red Lake and Fosston high school girls basketball teams battled at the Sanford Center Friday night, with the Warriors taking home a hard-fought 67-62 win. The game was played as part of the Homark Homes Hardwood Showcase.

Averi Holthusen led Red Lake with 18 points, while Angel Mcclain and Grace White added 14 points each.

"Grace (White) was playing pretty good down low," Red Lake head coach Randy Holthusen said. "They did a good job feeding her in the post and Averi Holthusen too. She had a good game driving to the basket. We didn't have a very good night shooting from the outside but we did a very good job driving to the rim and converting on some of our layups."

Both teams remained neck-and-neck for the first half, with Fosston taking its largest lead of five points at 20-15 late in the period.

A free throw and a layup off a steal from the ensuing defensive rebound by Red Lake's Angel Mcclain cut the lead to 20-18.

Sydney Beaulieu came off the bench and gave the Warriors a crucial basket to tie the game at 22-22.

Autumn Holthusen then hit a three-pointer of the game to regain the lead for Red Lake.

Averi Holthusen made a layup before the halftime buzzer to put the Warriors up 27-23 going into the break.

The scoring got going strong in the second half as each side traded blows over the final 18 minutes.

Red Lake held on to the lead until Emily Curfman converted an old-fashioned three-point play to tie the game at 34-34.

A Grace White layup gave the Warriors a 36-34 lead but Abby Swanson hit a three from the corner to give the Hounds their first lead of the second half at 37-36.

However, Mcclain answered with a three of her own to put Red Lake back on top, only for Swanson to drive and even the score again at 39-39.

A two-point basket from Lillie Manecke gave Fosston a 41-39 advantage, the Greyhounds' final lead of the night.

The Warriors would go up 59-53 to take a six-point lead, equaling their largest of the night.

Fosston would not go easily as a pair of layups and a Swanson three-pointer reduced the lead to one at 61-60. Averi Holthusen made a jumper to put Red Lake up 63-60 followed by a Curfman free throw that brought the lead back to one.

White drove to the other end and hit a clutch basket for the Warriors to seal the victory.

"We started off a little slow," Holthusen said. "We've been starting off slow the last few games but we kind of pulled together in the end and we made some good things happen.

"We finished the game strong and that was the key tonight."

Red Lake is now 7-2 on the season and is off until Jan. 2 when it hosts Mountain Iron-Buhl.

Fosston falls to 3-3 on the season with the loss.

Red Lake boys win too

In the boys game, Red Lake remained undefeated in their 66-57 victory over Fosston on Friday night.

The Warriors, who improved to a The Warriors, who improved to a perfect 8-0 on the season, were tied with the Greyhounds 30-30 at halftime.

But Red Lake outscored the Greyhounds 36-27 in the second half to earn the victory.

The Warriors had scored 106 points on Thursday night against Laporte.

Full stats for Friday's game were not available at presstime.

Red Lake returns to the court after Christmas, when they'll take on Northern Freeze on Dec. 29 at the Russ Smith Holiday Classic at Thief River Falls.

Fosston falls to 5-3 and will be back in action Tuesday, Dec. 22, when it hosts Norman County West.

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