A 2-18 Moorhead team was 23 points better than a 13-7 Thief River Falls squad in a Thursday boys high school basketball mis-match hosted by the Prowlers.
Moorhead won 63-40 behind a 30-point game by 6-4 senior guard Matt Bye. The Spuds were coming off a 76-57 Saturday loss to a Grand Rapids team the Prowlers beat 65-47 earlier this year.
Twenty-seven percent 12-for-44 shooting and a 42-27 drubbing on the boards – including a 14-2 figure on the offensive end – were big factors in the Prowlers’ disappointing performance, according to Thief River Falls coach Joe Wasfaret. “We got out-worked,” he said. “We didn’t do a good job at anything.”
A 3-point bucket from the wing by Alend Alemadi put Moorhead ahead 9-7 with 13:15 left in the first half and the Spuds would never trail again.
It was just a 29-23 difference at the break and the Thief River Falls’ Payton Graham pulled up to hit a short jumper to start the second half. 
But that was followed by a 17-2 Moorhead run that turned the tide as the Spuds out-scored the Prowlers 34-15 the rest of the way.
“We had no emotion in the locker room,” pointed out Wasfaret. “Our kids looked at their record and figured we had an easy win. But they (Spuds) play a lot tougher schedule than we do.”
Brady Hoffard was the Prowlers’ lone double figure scorer, netting 18 points.
Moorhead shot 39 percent from the field (21/54). 
It wasn’t a pretty game. Together, the two teams shot 46 free throws and turned the ball over 41 times. Thief River Falls was 11-for-19 at the line; Moorhead went 15-for-27. The Prowlers had 21 turnovers; the Spuds finished with 20.
The Spuds have beaten the Prowlers 11 straight times. The current series began in 2004-05 with a Thief River Falls win. Moorhead won the rest. 
 
Scoring
1 2 T
Moorhead 29 34 63
Thief River Falls 23 17 40
Moorhead – Otis Weah 3, Alend Alemadi 6, Mohammed Kareem 3, Cole Crompton 4, Matt Jenkins 5, Matt Bye 30, Jordan Odegard 1, Brennan Meyer 3, Leif Engen 8.
TRF – Cole Johnson 5, Brady Hoffard 18, Blake Boen 4, Payton Graham 5, Derik Newland 2, Landon Kruckeberg 1, Isaac Olson 3, Kelby Jobe 2.