by Scott DCamp
Sports Editor
Thief River Falls sprinted to a 32-15 first half lead and held off a second-half rally by visiting Goodridge/Grygla to claim a 56-38 win Thursday night at the Lincoln High School Brickhouse.
Thief River Falls Head Coach Jon Hams credited a pair of reserves for much-needed energy for the Prowlers.
“I thought Landon and Jett both gave nice sparks off the bench in the game by scoring in some key moments along with providing good D,” Hams said.
Thursday night’s game was the Third Annual Community Strong boys basketball game between the Prowlers and Chargers. Thief River Falls defeated Goodridge/Grygla in each of the first two meetings – 88-65 at the Brickhouse in 2023 and 84-70 at Goodridge High School in 2024.
“The Community Strong night is a great night that brings both communities together,” Hams said. “It is definitely something that needs to continue moving forward.”
The Chargers may have fallen to 0-3 against the Prowlers in the Community Strong series, but Goodridge/Grygla Head Coach Andrew Sundberg felt his team showed improvement in the second half.
“I felt we took a step forward against the Prowlers,” Sundberg said. “We struggled to score in the first half against their strong defense and trailed by 17 at halftime. With how things have been going lately, the team could have given in, but we competed very hard in the second half. At one point, we got the lead down to seven points, but just couldn’t make enough shots to get any closer than that.”
Shay Jacobson led the Chargers in scoring with 15 points and he added five rebounds, four assists and six steals. Trustin Wiseth finished a point and a board short of a double-double with nine of each in Friday’s game.
“Shay and Trustin had very good games,” Sundberg said. “Shay was very active defensively and Trustin rebounded very well.
Thief River Falls junior Bridger Wilcox led all scorers with 20 points and he added 10 rebounds and six assists for a double-double.
Senior Everett Nelson added seven points and recorded an impressive 15 rebounds.
Scoring
1 2 T
Goodridge/Grgyla 15 23 38
Thief River Falls 32 24 56
Goodridge/Grygla – Hank Jones 1, Shay Jacobson 15, Owen Larson 4, Brody Sourdiff 3, Evan Rubischko 2, Trustin Wiseth 9, Gavin Aune 4.
Thief River Falls – Bridger Wilcox 20, Wyatt Nelson 4, Everett Nelson 7, Landon Wikert 3, Gannon Zutz 7, Lucas Rantanen 2, Dylan Osowski 2, Caden Rose 4, Jett Cornelius 4, Kale Farbo 3.
Section 8AA Boys Basketball
Overall QRF
W L
East Grand Forks 12 4 100.5
DGF 15 3 93.3
Pelican Rapids 15 3 92.2
Warroad 17 1 84.4
Barnesville 13 5 81.2
Perham 10 6 76.8
Park Rapids Area 7 8 62.5
Thief River Falls 8 6 59.4
Roseau 8 10 42.1
Wadena-Deer Creek 6 10 39.6
Hawley 3 14 35.8
Crookston 3 12 34.7
Menahga 1 17 24.8