VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – The Valley City Hi-Liner boys hosted the #1 ranked West Fargo Sheyenne Mustangs Tuesday night and played the entire first half neck-and-neck until the Mustangs were able to pull away in the second half and cruise to a 75-56 victory. The score at halftime was 40-32 Mustangs, but the scored was tied within the last several minutes of the first half.
The Hi-Liners were balanced in the first half, as five players scored at least four points, but the Mustangs clamped down on defense in the second half. Senior Peyton Zaun was the only Hi-Liner to score in the first 10 minutes of the second half (10 points) before fellow senior Derrek Diegel made a layup with 7:57 left to go in the game. The Mustangs had taken a 20-point+ lead by that point, however, and the Hi-Liners did not have enough to come back, never making a serious run at the Mustangs.
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Wahpeton started the second half on a 19-3 to turn a four point halftime lead into a 20 point lead and Valley City never recovered as the Huskie picked up a 83-65 win over the Hi-Liners on Senior night.
Valley City jumped out to a quick 7-0 lead thanks to one of the seniors. Alex Thornton hit a three-pointer and a baseline scoop shot and assisted on Peyton Zaun’s bucket to help the Hi-Liners jump out to an early lead. They would expand that lead to nine at 16-7 thanks to an 8-1 run. But Wahpeton would come back and tie the game at 16, one of ten ties in the first half.
VALLEY CITY, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – Valley City used a strong second half on both ends of the floor to pick up a much needed win. The Hi-Liners outscored Fargo South 37-20 in the second half for a 64-48 win.
The first half saw four ties and five lead changes, with the last one coming at the end of an 8-0 run by South to end the first half with a 28-27 lead.
The Hi-Liners took the lead 27-20 thanks to an 11-4 run. The run was started by Drew Zaun’s three-pointer from the top of the key with 7:44 remaining to make it 19-16 Hi-Liners. The run was capped off by a long three-pointer by Adam Bitz with 4:42 to go. But then South cranked up the pressure defense to end the half and score the last eight points. The last two scored by Khamani Steckler on a inside basket with 1:12 remaining in the half to give his team the 28-27 lead at the break.
Valley City, ND (NewsDakota.com) – The Fargo Davies Eagle boys came to Valley City and cruised to victory Friday night 99-48. The Hi-Liners stayed close for the first several minutes of the game, including an 8-7 lead. The Eagles soon took over, taking a 46-25 lead into halftime.
Turnovers undid the Hi-Liners in the first half, as the Hi-Liners continually threw the ball away, giving the Eagles plenty of fast break opportunities and easy baskets. The Hi-Liners never made a serious push in the second half, as the Eagles’ lead continued to steadily grow.
Senior Owen Hektner led all scorers with 28 points for the Eagles, 17 of which came in the second half. After a relatively quiet first half, Hektner came out and had a stretch of several minutes where he took over offensively, including hitting three three-pointers in the second half.
FARGO, N.D. (NewsDakota.com) – When Fargo North and Valley City played in Valley City last Thursday, Carter Zeller was impressive scoring 13 points off the bench all in the second half. Tuesday the freshman was impressive again, and then some scoring 43 points and grabbing a game high 11 rebounds as North came from behind for a 78-71 win over the Hi-Liners at the Spartandome.
Zeller fell five points shy of the school record of 48 points set by Siman Sem in 2017. Sem now plays for MSU-Moorhead. Ryan Manly and Jalen May each added 10 points for the Spartans, who after trailing by three at halftime, posted 48 second-half points to pull ahead.