Nate Carr

The Blue Earth Area boys basketball team avenged their only conference loss this season as they traveled to Fairmont on Jan. 22 and came away with a 57-46 victory.

The two teams are tied in the conference with one loss each, while Fairmont has five conference wins to Blue Earth Area’s four.

Trailing 26-19 at half time, the Bucs outscored the Cardinals 38-20 in the second half to erase the 7-point deficit and come away with the 11-point triumph.

“We almost seemed flat in the first half,” explains Bucs’ head coach Gary Holmseth. “Our overall tenacity in the second half was good.”

Both teams got off to a fast start. A Brady Anderson to Nick Lee lob started things off for the Bucs. The Cards responded by crashing their offensive boards with Logan Peymann converting a rebound for a basket to tie the game at two. The game would be tied at 8, 10, 12, and 14.

Nate Carr hit one of two free throws to give the Bucs a one point lead at 15-14 with 7:33 left in the first half.

Justin Heinrich, senior guard for the Cardinals, suffered an injury and was done for the evening at the 6:45 mark.

The Cardinals seemed to respond to the loss of their senior leader as they captured the lead with two Joey Fitzgerald free throws – taking an 18-17 first half lead.

The home team would hold the Bucs to only two more first half points, while extending their lead to seven points at the break.It would take just over six minutes for the Bucs to even the score in the second half.

Brady Anderson hit the first of his three second half treys, pulling the Bucs to within five points at 30-25 with 13:28 to go.

Garrett Anderson’s dogged determination on the offensive boards paid off with a basket, narrowing the Cards’ lead to three points.

Max Waletich got a basket back for the Cards to push their margin back to five points.

Nick Lee tapped a loose ball ahead to Nate Carr for a layup and Brady Anderson connected for his second shot from behind the arc to tie the game at 32-32 with 11:42 showing on the clock.

The Cardinals got the lead back to three points but a traditional 3-point play by Carr tied the game at 35.

Carr then put the Bucs in the lead with another basket at the 10:16 mark – but Fitzgerald’s two free throws knotted the score at 37.

Brady Anderson’s third trey of the night gave the Bucs a 41-40 lead. Waletich added two more free throws giving the Cards a 42-41 lead with 5:54 showing on the game clock.

It would be the last lead of the night for the home team as Lee sank two free throws and then hit one from the field for a 45-42 Buccaneer lead.

Garrett Anderson’s bucket made it 47-42 and resulted in a Cardinals’ time-out.

The home team responded with a basket, but another Brady Anderson to Lee lob play resulted in a traditional 3-point play putting Blue Earth Area up 50-44.

The Bucs would outscore the Cards 7-2 over the last 1:53 to secure the 11-point win.

Lee led the Bucs with 20 points, while Carr had 14, Garrett Anderson 11, and Brady Anderson’s three treys gave him nine points for the evening.

The Bucs, who out rebounded the Cardinals 30-24, were led by Garrett Anderson with 11, Lee with eight, and Carr with seven.

Carr also contributed four of his teams’ nine steals.

Blue Earth Area’s overall record now stands at 10-2.