The Blue Earth Area Buccaneers Girls basketball team traveled to Windom on Friday, Dec 28, to participate in the Windom Holiday Classic.

The Bucs took on the Fulda Raiders on the first day of the tournament. Fulda took the win, 51-40.

“Fulda was a very solid team especially on defense,” Bucs coach Al Cue says. “It was a good learning experience against a good team.”

The Bucs tried to keep the game close in score but the Raiders kept the upper hand.

In the first half of the game, BEA managed to rack up 21 points. But, it wasn’t quite enough to get ahead of Fulda who pulled in 26 points.

Krista Hassing tallied 10 points for the Bucs in the first half, scoring 5 of 16 two-point attempts.

Jenna Stevermer, contributing seven points to the score, sank two two-pointers and one three-pointer.

In the second half, Fulda maintained the lead as they scored 25 more points and BEA only scored 19.

Kaitlyn Olsen put seven points on the scoreboard for the Bucs in the second half. She made 2 of 4 two-point attempts and made one from behind the three-point line.

Hassing also contributed seven points by making two two-pointers and 3 out of 4 free-throw shots.

She tallied a total of 17 points against the Raiders with seven two-point shots and three points from the free-throw line.

Olsen racked up a total of nine points with 3 of 8 two-point shots and one three-pointer.

Stevermer contributed a total of 10 points by scoring 2 of 9 two-point shots and 2 of 3 three-pointers.

As a team, Fulda had a total of 12 of 33 two-point shots, 4 of 6 three-pointers and 15 of 20 from the free-throw line.

“They really made us work for every point,”?Coach Cue says. “We hung close to them for most of the game, but they were able to pull away a bit at the end by making their free-throws.”

Martin Luther 52, BEA 46

After their loss against Fulda on Friday, Dec. 28, the Bucs returned to Windom on Saturday, Dec. 29, to compete for third place against the Martin Luther Knights.

However, the Knights defeated the Bucs with a score of 52-46.

BEA racked up 26 points in the first half but that was no match for the 33 points Martin Luther acquired.

“The girls were pretty sluggish in the first half of this game,” the Bucs coach says. “We gave up too many points in the first half to give us much of a chance.”

Krista Hassing tallied a total of 11 points for the Bucs. She sank three two-pointers and made 5 of 8 free-throw shots.

Hassing also grabbed 11 rebounds, five offense and six defense.

Junior Ciarra Olson brought in six points for BEA with 3 of 6 two-point attempts.

Shayna Stevermer also scored six points with two two-pointers and 2 of 3 free-throws.

“I do have to give our girls credit for working very hard. We worked our way back into the game, even taking the lead a couple of times.”?Cue adds. “Unfortunately, they pulled away in the end.”

The Bucs’ loss to Fulda and Martin Luther puts their overall record to five wins and three losses.

BEA remains 1-1 for their South Central Conference record.

“We’ll keep working on being more consistent in our play and strive to be better in the next game,”?the Bucs coach says.

The Bucs played in St. James on Friday Jan. 4, and will play again Tuesday at Jackson County Central.