Meagan Grandgenett makes a quick pass to a teammate during action in the sub-section championship game in Mankato last Monday. To see more photographs of this event, log on to http://cu.faribaultcountyregister.com

The season came to an end for the Blue Earth Area girls’ basketball team as they fell to the LeSueur-Henderson Giants 54-42 in sub-section action at the Taylor Center in Mankato. Earlier in the season the Bucs had handed the Giants their first loss to the season by a score of 48-40.

The 2nd seeded Giants got the number one seeded Bucs down early and were able to hold onto the lead to earn the victory and a chance to face Hayfield to see who would go to the State Tournament.

It was the Bucs who struck first with a nifty play that freed Meagan Grandgenett to catch a lob pass for an easy bucket. That was the only lead the Bucs would have for the night as the Giants soon were up by nine points at 15-6.

The lead was increased to 12 points at 23-11 before the Bucs would get it back to nine with Hayley Darrington making two trips to the charity stripe and connecting on three free throws. The lead was quickly back to double digits as the Giants’ star guard, Colleen Doerr, connected on a “3” to put the Giants on top 26-14.

By halftime, the lead for the Giants had increased to 16 points as they went into the locker room with a 35-19 advantage.

The Bucs came out at halftime looking to make a dent in the lead as they increased their defensive pressure. Grandgenett scored off a drive down the lane, and Katie Erdahl followed with a “3” to cut the lead to 11. The Giant’s Abbie Wilson scored from close range to push the lead back to 13. The teams continued to trade baskets until the Bucs got a stop on defense followed by an Erin Warner basket that got the deficit down to single digits with the score 39-30.

It was Wilson who got the Giant’s lead back to 11 as her basket made the score 41-30 with 6:08 remaining in the game.

Kali Anderson made one free throw but missed the second but Erdahl grabbed the rebound off the miss and put it in to bring the Bucs within eight points of the Giants at 41-33. That was as close as they would come as they could not find the mark until the Giants had pushed the lead back to 13 points at 46-33 as Darrington picked up her 5th foul and had to exit the game.

A “3” by Erdahl got the Bucs within 10 but that was as close as they could get as the Giants were able to close out the game and claim the victory.

The Giants employed a very deliberate slow down strategy in the second half that ate up huge chunks of time and kept the Bucs from getting into a higher paced game. It was very effective and kept the Bucs from putting together any big runs which has been a very effective tool for them through the year.

Leading scorer for the Bucs was Erdahl with 13, followed by Grandgenett with eight, Anderson with seven and Darrington with six. Anderson also finished with five rebounds and four assists.

Cassandra Meffert led the Giants with 15 points and seven rebounds. Colleen Doerr added 11 points, seven rebounds and four assists.

The Bucs end the season with a 24-3 record.