Olivia Skaare fights a USC Rebel player for possession of the ball during the consolation championship game on Tuesday night. To see more photographs of this event, log on to http://cu.faribaultcountyregister.com

The USC Rebels had too much firepower for the Blue Earth Area Bucs to overcome Tuesday night.

USC won the St. Clair Holiday Tournament consolation championship game 58-46 over BEA.

The Bucs held the lead for most of the first half, but cold shooting in the second half kept them from catching the Rebels.

BEA led by as many as six points in the first half. With under a minute to go before the break, that lead was down to one point, 24-23.

The Rebels used the last seconds of the half to nail a 3-pointer, then steal the ball from the Bucs and get another two points as the buzzer sounded.

USC led 28-24 at the half.

BEA briefly grabbed the lead back in the opening moments of the second half, when Hayley Pirsig hit for two, followed by a 3-pointer from Morgan Dickman.

The Bucs had a 29-28 edge, but it was the last time they would lead.

After trailing by as many as eight points, BEA kept trying to get back into the game. Two free throws by Olivia Skaare got them within four at 45-41. Later, a 3-pointer by Kari Darrington cut the lead to five at 49-44.

There was still four and a half minutes left in the game at the time, but the Bucs were only able to get two more points the rest of the way out. They missed several shots from the floor, and from the free-throw line.

“We did a lot of things well,” Coach Al Cue said after the game. “But we missed a lot of shots. We need to make a few more baskets.”

Cue said overall the girls played well in the tourney.

“The effort is there, the girls hustled a lot,” he said. “We executed most things well. We just have to make the shot when we get into position to shoot.”

For the second night in a row, the Bucs were led in scoring by Morgan Dickman, who had 11 points. Kate Hassing added 10 points, and also led in rebounds with six.

Overall the Bucs made 3 of 8 shots from beyond the arc, and 16 of 44 2-point shots. The Rebels were 3 of 5 (60 percent) for 3-pointers, and 20 of 38 (52 percent) for 2-pointers.

The Rebels were also 9 of 16 from the free-throw line, while the Bucs hit 5 of 8.