Hayley Pirsig

It was a night of firsts as the Blue Earth Area girls battled the Waseca Bluejays on the hard-court Friday, Jan. 8.

The Buccaneers 52-38 victory gave BEA their first home court win of the season. In doing so, they also put a blotch on Waseca’s previously unblemished conference record.

Midway through the first half both teams were struggling on offense. Other than three free throws, the Bucs only other scores came on two 3-pointers by Ashley Olson – as BEA held a 9-7 advantage over Waseca.

Two consecutive shots from behind the arc by Camille Driscoll – and a Rylee Wagner basket off a Kate Hassing assist – quickly expanded the Bucs lead to 10 points at 17-7.

This was just the beginning. The Bucs showed the strength of their bench as reserves Olivia Skaare, Wagner, and Meghan Mittelstadt scored 13 of the Bucs final 16 points of the half.

Morgan Dickman

It was Mittelstadt’s trey from the top of the key and her free throw moments later, that sent the Bucs into the locker room at half time with a 33-12 lead. The Bucs had outscored Waseca 24-5 over the last nine minutes of the first half.

It was the Bucs’ defense which had ignited the team in the first half, and they kept the pressure on in the second half, maintaining an 18-20 point lead until late in the game.

Waseca was able to make some head way as BEA emptied the bench, giving everybody some court time.

For more of this story see this week’s Register.