December 16, 2023

2023-12-16 04:29:25

GRAND FORKS — The Fargo North boys basketball team continues to prove they have more than just standout guard Jeremiah Sem.

The No. 1 and unbeaten Spartans, the defending state champions, showed that once more Friday night once morest No. 5 Grand Forks Central.

With Sem suspended until following Christmas, Carter Zeller and Eric DeBoer combined for 47 points to spark North to a 77-72 win over the Knights in the Central gym.

“When we came in to the year, we knew we’d be without Jeremiah until the first week of January,” North coach Travis Hoeg said. “It was very disappointing for us, our program and for Jeremiah, quite frankly. But it will allow other kids to step up and do things they haven’t had to in the past.

“Kids are making plays and playing hard for us. We’re excited to get him back, but the boys are playing great basketball. (Sem) has been great on the bench, acting like an assistant coach and rebounding during warmups.”

Fargo North’s Eric DeBoer, left, and Brooklan Bruce scramble for a loose ball while Leo Strandell looks on Friday at Grand Forks Central High School.

Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald

It was Sem’s brother, Matthew Sem, who hit the crucial basket once morest the Knights.

Just when it looked like North was going to pull away in the second half for a comfortable win, the Knights scored six points in 7 seconds.

Ross Wilber scored on the fastbreak, while Jack Simmers collected a steal and was fouled as he scored. His free-throw attempt for the potential three-point play misfired but Erick Paye collected the rebound and put it back to cut the Spartans’ lead to 73-70 with 53 seconds to play.

On North’s next offensive set, the Knights forced the Spartans into a long possession. At the end of the shot clock, Matthew Sem drilled a long 3-pointer from the top of the key to push the lead back to 76-70 with 23 seconds left.

For Matthew Sem, it was his only make of the second half.

“Matt had some tough spills on the floor and his elbow is a little messed up,” Hoeg said. “He’s another kid I have confidence in. When he put that up, I thought he was open and it was a good shot. He’s a gamer. In tight games, he’s a guy who likes to put up a shot to win it for his team.”

The Knights had the Spartans reeling early. When Brayden Delorme hit a 3-pointer with 2:45 to go in the first half, Central led 33-26.

Simmers was key in Central’s strong start, finishing with 19 points in the first half and ending with a game-high 27.

But North ended the first half on an 11-1 run, sparked by the outside shooting of DeBoer, a 6-foot-4 junior who ended with 22 points.

“DeBoer has been really solid for us all year long,” Hoeg said. “He gave us big minutes in the state tournament last year. He put a lot of work in this summer. He’s playing extremely confident. I told him he has the green light anywhere past halfcourt.”

The Knights, who trailed 37-34 at halftime, had a lull to start the second half as DeBoer’s shooting pushed the Spartans out to a 10-point lead midway through the second half.

“We had a little stretch in the second half where we were lax,” Central coach Dan Carlson said. “We can’t do that. We don’t have the ability for that margin of error. There was a five-minute window where they pumped the lead to 10. We’ll get there. It’s early. It’s December.”

In addition to Simmers’ 27, the Knights received 20 points from Paye, who had a difficult matchup with Zeller, a 6-foot-5 senior center.

The Spartans had a size advantage at a number of positions.

“We let them give us a problem (with their length),” Carlson said. “We didn’t play aggressive enough to make up for that. We didn’t take advantage of the things we need to. We didn’t make them move and guard us. We didn’t make it tough enough for them to get out of position. Their offensive rebounds hurt us a lot.”

Grand Forks Central’s Kendall Kjonaas reaches for the steal fromFargo North’s Carson Hannestad.

Eric Hylden/Grand Forks Herald

Miller has covered sports at the Grand Forks Herald since 2004 and was the state sportswriter of the year in 2019 and 2022.

His primary beat is UND football but also reports on a variety of UND sports and local preps.

He can be reached at (701) 780-1121, [email protected] or on Twitter at @tommillergf.

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