The last time the Blue Earth Area girls basketball team suffered a loss was Dec. 14 when the New Ulm Eagles handed them a 55-54 loss in New Ulm. The result was quite different when the two teams met again on the Buccaneers’ home floor Friday night Jan. 25.

Although the final score was 64-47 in the Bucs’ favor, they actually led by as many as 32 points before the Eagles cut the lead in the final four minutes with Blue Earth’s starters getting a well deserved rest.

It was the Eagles that actually jumped out to the early 7-2 lead before the Bucs went on a 10-0 run to take the lead for good. Meagan Grandgenett’s penetration layup got things going and moments later Erin Warner converted an offensive rebound to pull the Bucs within one. Grandgenett connected for two more baskets before Katie Erdahl finished the run with a turnaround jumper to give the Bucs a 12-7 lead.

The next Bucs’ run started with just over 10 minutes left in the half as Darrington scored 13 of the team’s next 22 points and their lead grew to 18 points at 34-16.

A three by the Eagles’ Kayla Altmann was quickly countered on the other end with a three by Erdahl and when the half ended a short time later the Bucs were up by 17 as they held a 38-21 lead.

“We had balanced scoring, that makes it hard for a defense because they cannot focus on just one or two people,” said Coach Al Cue, “And they seemed to have trouble against our zone defense.”

The second half saw the Bucs widening the lead and when sophomore Hayley Pirsig put one in under the basket with just over 4:30 left in the game the Bucs had opened a 32 point gap over the Eagles at 63-31.

With the Buc starters getting a well deserved rest, the Eagles were able to make three long range threes and one conventional three-point play in the closing minutes to help close the gap.

The Bucs have now won 11 games in a row and own a 6-1 conference record and are 15-2 overall.

Leading the Bucs in scoring was Darrington with 16 and Erdahl with 14. Grandgenett also hit double figures as she scored 12 points followed by Jackie Klinkner who tallied eight. The Bucs were 13-20 from the free throw line.

Erin Warner was the leading rebounder with seven while Darrington, Klinkner, and Kali Anderson had five each.

The Bucs recorded 15 steals on the night led by Darrington with five, Erdahl with four, and Grandgenett with three.

New Ulm had two players in double figures as Altmann finished with 21 and Jessica Woodbury knocked down 17.

The Buc girls had a week off before they faced Fairmont at home on Feb. 1. The results of that game will appear in next week’s Register.



B-squad: BEA 33, New Ulm 26

The Bucs took a 12 point lead into the locker room at halftime and then struggled to hold on before coming away with a 33-26 victory over the visiting Eagles.

Haley Pirsig led the team in scoring with nine points while Ashley Olson and Sydney Ristau added seven and six points respectively.