The Buccaneer girls basketball team got their third win of the season when they defeated Southwest Star Concept Monday, Dec. 15, in a game in Okabena.

The Bucs led 28-13 at half-time, but had to hang on to win 46-37 when they were outscored 24-18 in the second half.

Jackie Klinkner had 13 points to lead the Bucs in scoring. She also had five steals and three assists.

Morgan Dickman added 10 points while Kate Hassing and Hayley Pirsig pumped in nine each.

Hassing also had eight assists and Dickman four.

The Quasars were led by Katie Granstad who led all scorers with 16 points.

The Bucs shot 14 of 18 from the free throw line, while the Quasars were a perfect 5 of 5.

The win propelled the Bucs to a 3-2 overall record, while they stayed at 2-0 in the conference.

BEA 48, New Ulm 45

The Blue Earth Area girls basketball team held a slim one point lead over the visiting New Ulm Eagles with 14.1 seconds remaining on the game clock.

The Bucs’ Olivia Skaare stepped to the free-throw line with the chance to extend the lead to three points if she could make both free throw attempts. The junior center did just that as she banked the first one in before hitting nothing but net on her second shot to give the Bucs a three point edge.

New Ulm managed to get off a three, but it was off the mark and Alicia Rorman grabbed the rebound to seal the 48-45 victory for the Bucs. In a game that saw both teams struggle at times, it was the Bucs who clamped down on defense and put together a 7-0 run over the last two minutes of the game to turn a 4-point deficit into a 3-point win.

Jackie Klinkner got the Bucs off to a good start when she sank a 15 footer from the left wing. Klinkner then fed Kate Hassing for a left-handed shot underneath and the Bucs had a 4-0 lead.

The Eagles’ outstanding forward, Kayla Altmann, brought the visitors back to within one when she hit the first of her four 3-pointers for the night.

Altmann’s third basket from behind the arc gave the visitors a 9-point lead at 15-6. It looked like the Eagles were going to pull away.

A three by Ashley Olson and a bucket at the buzzer by Klinkner closed the gap to three points as the teams went into the locker room for half time with BEA trailing 23-20.

Neither team was able to build a substantial lead in the second half. The Bucs held a 39-36 lead but were outscored 9-2 as the Eagles’ junior guard Logan Ahlness hit three consecutive threes to give the Eagles a 45-41 lead with just under five minutes left in the game.

Hassing made the first dent in the lead as she hit one from the lane to make it 45-43. Haley Pirsig made one of two free throws and then Hassing grabbed an offensive rebound and powered her way for two points as the Bucs took the lead for good.

“Our rebounding was encouraging,” noted coach Al Cue. “There were some good things and there were some not so good things.”

Rebounding was indeed a strong point for the Bucs as they grabbed 13 offensive and 25 defensive rebounds to hold a 38-32 edge over the Eagles.

Pacing the Bucs were Klinkner with 10 boards and Hassing who added seven boards to go along with her game high 16 points. Morgan Dickman chipped in 11 points.

The Bucs made only 15 of 54 shots from two-point range while being successful on 3 of 8 three-point attempts. They made 60 percent of their free throws, sinking 9 of 15.

Blue Earth Area moves their record to 2-0 in the South Central Conference while improving to 2-2 overall.