Bucs lose to NRHEG, defeat St. James

Morgan Dickman
The Blue Earth Area girls basketball team fell to New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva 54-42 on Saturday, Dec. 6.
“Overall we played pretty well,” Bucs Coach Al Cue said after the game. “NRHEG is one of the favored teams in their sub-section.”
BEA was behind by just two, 22-20, at the half.
“We did turn the ball over too much when we let their pressure rattle us,” Coach Cue added.
One of the deciding factors in the game was that the Bucs had just seven free throw attempts, while the Panthers had 39 tries from the line.

Jackie Klinkner
“We have to cut down on the number of fouls and make our opponents earn their points from the field,” Cue said. The Bucs committed 26 offenses, compared with the Panthers 15.
Morgan Dickman led the scoring for the Bucs with 12, including two 3-pointers.
Jackie Klinkner added 10 points as well as 13 rebounds and seven assists.
“That was a great job rebounding,” Cue said. Kate Hassing had nine boards.
Hayley Pirsig added eight points for BEA.

Kate Hassing
The loss put the Bucs season record at 1-2, 1-0 in the conference.
Girls get first win in St. James
The Blue Earth Area Buccaneer girls basketball got their first win of the young season on Friday, Dec. 5 in St. James. The Bucs won 57-49.
Jackie Klinkner had the hot hand for BEA, hitting for 20 points, hitting 9 of 11 attempts from the field, and both free throws she attempted.
Hayley Pirsig added 11 points. Morgan Dickman had eight points, including a couple of 3-pointers and had six assists.
“The girls had a pretty complete game,” Head Coach Al Cue said. “We got off to a quick start, going ahead 8-0, and were able to maintain the lead throughout the game.
The Bucs also outrebounded the Saints, 29-20, with all ten players on the roster getting at least one board. Kate Hassing nabbed 10 of the rebounds.
“It has been a while since we had a 10 rebound game for a player,” Cue said.
During one stretch in the first half, the Bucs turned the ball over on several possessions, Cue said.
“But late in the game we did a great job of being patient and getting good shots,” the coach added.
Free throws were pretty even between the two teams, with both sinking nine from the charity line.
The win evened the season record at 1-1 for the Bucs.
This week the Bucs face Southwest Star on Monday, and host Fairmont on Friday.
- Jackie Klinkner
- Kate Hassing