Savageau lifts Class A boys to victory

FARGO — Nik Savageau capped the Lions All-Star Series with an All-Star play.

The Fargo North guard drained an 18-foot jumper with 4 seconds remaining to lift Class A to a 92-91 boys basketball victory against Class B on Wednesday at the Fargo Civic Center.

“I just knew Savageau at the end was going to make a play,” said Class A and Bismarck High head coach Steve Miller.

Class A rebounded from a 35-point defeat in the first game of the series. Class B rolled to an 88-53 victory Tuesday at the Bismarck Civic Center.

“I think (Class A) came out a little more looking like they wanted to go at us a little more, a little more aggressive,” said forward Harrison Weber, a 6-foot-7 forward from Central Cass.

Class B snapped a 13-game losing streak against Class A with Tuesday’s win before Class A responded with Wednesday’s win in Fargo.

“We didn’t want to come out and have another showing like that,” said Savageau, who ended with a team-high 15 points. “So I think we took pride to heart and we came out and fought and got a good win.”

Class A built a 85-74 lead with 4 minutes, 5 seconds to play after Minot guard Donte’ Smart sank a free throw.

Class B stormed back, scoring the next 10 points to quickly trim the Class A lead back to a single point.

Kidder County’s Adam Randall scored four points during that key surge.

“It was exciting,” said Weber, who scored nine points and added five rebounds. “It was a lot of fun playing with these guys and making runs like that. That’s what Class B basketball is all about.”

Class B grabbed a 91-90 with 50 seconds to play after Turtle Lake-Mercer’s Grant Singer scored an inside basket. Singer had a chance to extend that lead, but missed two foul shots with 16 seconds remaining.

That set the stage for Savageau, who dribbled the ball around halfcourt to milk the game clock. He then made a quick move toward the lane, but pulled from 18 feet and swished the game-winning shot.

“It was awesome,” said Savageau, who added eight rebounds and seven assists. “It’s always nice to get the win and it’s just nice to end on a good note.”

Randall and Singer shared game-high scoring honors with 19 points each.

“It was fun to win the first one, but we are disappointed that we didn’t take this one, too,” Weber said.

Eric Peterson is a reporter at The Forum of Fargo-Moorhead, which is owned by Forum Communications Co.

Tags: sports, basketball, savageau, lions