Kate Hassing

In basketball, holding your opponent to just 28 points usually ensures a win.

But not always.

“If you would have told me this afternoon that we would hold Fairmont to just 28 points I would have been ecstatic,” Blue Earth Area Buccaneers Head Coach Al Cue says. However, his Buccaneer girls could only muster 23 points in the game, and fell to the visiting Cardinals 28-23 last Tuesday night.

“Our lack of offense killed us,” he says. “It was not very good shooting.”

The Bucs were just 6 for 16 from the field in the first half, and only 4 for 15 in the second half.

Morgan Dickman

BEA trailed 15-12 at the end of the first half.

Both teams were playing tenacious defense, and neither could score many points.

The Bucs took the quick lead, and were ahead 8-4 early on. But a Cardinal three-pointer put them up 9-8.

BEA came back and led 12-11, but the Cards regained the lead with a pair of free throws.

In the second half BEA was able to take a two point advantage at 17-15. Ashley Olson made a great reverse layup and was fouled on the play. She sank the free throw. It was the last time BEA would be ahead in the game.

Behind 23-17, Olson got the Buccaneers back in it when she sank a three-pointer which made the score 23-20. But BEA could not complete the rally.

Fairmont went up 27-20 with four minutes left in the game, and there was no scoring by either team for the next three minutes.

Morgan Dickman hit a three of her own with a minute left in the game, cutting the lead to 27-23. That was as much as the Buc girls could muster in the point column.

Olson led the team with eight points, and Dickman added seven. Hayley Pirsig and Kate Hassing each added four.

The Bucs committed 23 turnovers, while the Cards had 19. BEA also had nine steals to Fairmont’s eight.

“The turnovers really hurt us,” Cue says. “Anytime you give the ball up 23 times, that is 23 times you lose a scoring opportunity.”

The Cardinals also out-rebounded the Bucs, 22 to 14.

Next up for the BEA girls is a trip to St. Clair for a three day tournament, Monday through Wednesday. The Buccaneers take on the Rebels of USC at 7:45 p.m. on Monday.