Packer girls back in business
Chet Decker, West Fargo Pioneer
Published Wednesday, February 14, 2007

The Pack proved that it's back when the West Fargo girls' basketball team snapped a three-game losing streak last week by winning twice.

Wins over Grand Forks Central and Devils Lake, the No. 5 team in the state, have the Packers on the rebound. In beating Devils Lake, the Packers finally beat a team that sat higher than them in the standings.

West Fargo's seven previous wins this season have all come against teams the Packers should have beaten - on paper, anyway. The win against Devils Lake, second in the EDC, proves the Packers can handle a solid team, and it couldn't have come at a better time for fourth-place West Fargo (9-5 EDC points, 8-9 overall).

";That was a big win for us up there,"; said Packers coach Lynette Mund. ";It just shows where we were and where we're at now. They're the No. 5 team in the state, and we just beat them on their home floor. That's huge for the girls.";

JoJo Haerter and Mary Michael Vance each scored 17 points against the Firebirds, and Jamie Green tied her career high with 15 points.

So why the sudden turnaround? How does a team go from losing to a team by 38 points, as the Packers did to Devils Lake in January, and then beat them by eight? That's a 46-point turnaround. And that's just not normal.

Sure the Packers didn't have a pair of senior guards the first time around. Mary Michael Vance was sick, and Sara Dell hadn't returned from injury. But did having them Saturday make all the difference?

";(The team is) just talking more,"; said Mund. ";They're talking more on defense and offense. They're starting to catch on to everything and learning to play well together.";

Aside from fielding a full team and battling no major injuries, West Fargo has found its offense. The 75-52 win against Central on Feb. 6, and the 66-58 victory over Devils Lake represent the Packers' two highest scoring efforts of the season.

Results from yesterday's game against Fargo North were not available before press time.

Boys drop from 1st to 3rd

Saturday's loss at Devils Lake was certainly excusable for the boys' basketball team. After all, the Firebirds had handed the Packers their third loss of the season back in January. But a loss to winless Grand Forks Central?

That's exactly what happened on Jan. 6, and it happened on the Packers' home court. And it was bad. Grand Forks Central, a team that had been 0-for-the-season, beat the Packers by 17 points, 71-54. The Packers were in first place at the time. Two losses later, and they're tied for third place with Grand Forks Red River.

";We just didn't come ready to play,"; said West Fargo's leading scorer Tanner Farkas with 17.3 points-per-game. ";I don't know what we were thinking. We didn't have the mentality, and it showed. Nothing went our way - nothing at all.";

The Packers shot an awful 28 percent to Central's 40 percent. Farkas was three for 15 from the field, while Seth Dye was six of 21 and took 14 three-pointers (he made three). The Knights went to the free throw line a whopping 44 times.

West Fargo lost Saturday to Devils Lake 77-68. Dye, the team's second leading scorer with 15.2 ppg, scored 31 points for the second time this season, tying his career high.

";Last week obviously wasn't a good week for us,"; said Farkas. ";Getting those losses now is better than during tournament time. Hopefully those losses will give us the fuel and energy we need to finish off the season.";

Results from yesterday's game against Fargo North were not available before press time.

Packer of the Week

West Fargo junior Anthony Charbonneau joined the Packer 30-win club in style, winning the 135-pound conference championship Saturday while upping his season record to 30-8.