Girls basketball EDC runners-up

The Packer girls’ week wasn’t quite as good as that of the boys, but they are still heading to the state tournament.

The girls trounced the Valley City Hi-Liners 66-44 in the first round of EDC play on Tuesday.

They then met Fargo North in a tough contest, but won 62-54 with their tough defense and clutch shooting.

“We go by the fact that everything flows from our defense,” senior guard Jolene Woodbury said. “That leads into our offense.”

“It was a matchup of two athletic, hard-nosed teams,” head coach Barb Metcalf said, “and we persevered.”

However, the team had a rough shooting night (29.6 percent from the field) in Saturday’s EDC Championship game, and fell to the Fargo Shanley Deacons 51-41.

“Normally our 3-point shooting is a little better than that,” Metcalf said. “I thought we played well defensively, but when you play a team of that caliber, you need to shoot at least 45 percent.”

The 19-3 Packers will enter Thursday’s state tournament as the East’s No. 2 seed.

“We finished second last year,” Woodbury said. “We’re proud of that, but first is better.”