Whitney Pirsig

The Blue Earth Area girls basketball team played the Waseca Bluejays on Jan. 23 and gave them their first conference loss of the season.

The Bucs kept the scores low and close but snuck ahead in the end for a narrow victory of 36-33.

“Waseca was undefeated in the conference,” Coach Al Cue says. “So this was a very good win for us.”

BEA put the first points on the scoreboard with a two-pointer to start the game.

Krista Hassing put up a second two-pointer to which Waseca responded with a basket of their own. That put the Bucs at 4-3 and the game stayed close from there.

The Bucs continued to make two-point shots to stay in the lead throughout the first half. They sat at 16-6 and both teams made several trips up and down the court before scoring any more points.

Then as the first half neared an end, Waseca made two baskets in a row and had two shots at the free-throw line which were successful.

The Bucs and Bluejays were very close in score by the end of the first half.

“We held a 16-12 lead at half,”?Cue says. “We were able to hold on for the win.”

Hassing sank three baskets in the first half for six points.

Chelsea Owen scored four points and was 2 of 3 with two-point shots with a 67 percent accuracy rate.

Janessa Jahnke, Ciarra Olsen and Jenna Stevermer all brought in two points a piece in the first half.

The teams continued to be evenly matched in the second half as Waseca brought in 21 more points and BEA scored 20 more.

Waseca kicked off the second half with the first two-point basket. However, the Bucs came right back with a two-pointer of their own.

The Bucs were ahead 18-14 but the Bluejays took a shot behind the three-point line and made it in and closing the gap in the score, 18-17.

Bucs took the ball down the court but quickly lost the ball to the Bluejays who made two baskets and three-pointer, which put them in the lead for the first time in the second half, 24-18.

By the time the clock was down to 9:58 Waseca was up, 26-20. Then Kirstin Simmons of Waseca fouled Hassing who took two shots at the line. She sank both shots bumping the score to 26-22.

The clock read 7:43 and Waseca continued to sneak further into the lead, 29-22.

Stevermer attempted a three-point shot that bounced off the rim and missed. Hassing rebounded and was fouled by Waseca’s Sam Hiller. She had two shots at the line and made the first but missed the second.

The girls in maroon and gold rebounded and made a two pointer followed by another which put the score at 29-27.

Hassing was fouled again and made one shot at the line. Jahnke followed that up with a two-point basket which drove the Bucs into the lead, 30-29.

Hassing brought in four more points by way of two free-throw shots and a basket, to which Waseca matched with a basket of their own.

The score was 34-33 in the Bucs favor with 2:15 left in the second half.

Taylor Grandgenett was fouled with just :44.6 in the game. She had two shots at the line and missed the first but sank the second shot.

BEA was fouled again and Hassing had two at the line, she missed the first and made the second, putting the score at 36-33 with just :01.9 on the clock, sending the Bluejays home with their first conference loss of the season.

Hassing tallied 14 points in the second half with six free-throw shots and four two-pointers. She also grabbed 11 rebounds, five offensive and six defensive.

“The girls were very patient and deliberate on offense and played solid defense to keep the score low,”?Cue says. “We also rebounded well on both ends of the floor.”

Hassing scored a total of 20 points with seven baskets and six free-throw shots. She had 17 rebounds and four steals as well.

Jahnke and Owen both brought in four points a piece for the Bucs.

BEA? had a total of 23 defensive rebounds and 11 offensive. They also had 15 steals.

The girls basketball team will face Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Tuesday, Jan. 29 in Blue Earth. BEA 41, USC 25

The Blue Earth Area Girls Basketball team hosted the United South Central Rebels on Jan. 22.

The Bucs powered ahead early on in the game which set them up for their victory over the Rebels, with a final score of 41-25.

BEA finished the first half of the game in the lead, 17-9.

Krista Hassing led her teammates in scoring, bringing in five points in the beginning. She was 2 for 2 at the free-throw line and sank a three-pointer.

She also grabbed six rebounds, three offensive and three defensive.

Janessa Jahnke came in just behind her with five points. She made 2 of 4 two-point shot attempts.

The Bucs had 14 rebounds as a team in the first half, six offensive and eight defensive. They also had five steals as a team.

The Rebels turned over 10 balls in the first half. The Bucs only saw four turnovers.

The girls in maroon and gold continued thier momentum into the second half, outscoring the Rebels again.

BEA brought in another 24 points and USC only managed to score 16 more.

Hassing was top-scorer for the Bucs in the second half of the game as well. She tallied nine points with three two-point shots and three free-throws.

She also helped the team along with six rebounds and one steal.

Whitney Pirsig was 2 for 2 with her two pointers for a 100 percent accuracy rate.

Kaitlyn Olsen sank a three-point shot in the second half and had two assists.

The Rebels turned over another 10 balls in the second half of the game and had eight fouls.

Hassing finished the game scoring a total of 14 points. She made three two-point shots, one three-pointer and was 5 for 9 at the free-throw line.

She had 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals against the Rebels.

Pirsig scored six points for the Bucs with three two-point shots.

Chelsea Owen, Ciarra Olson and Jahnke all brought in four points a piece contributing to the Bucs victory.

BEA finished with a total of 27 rebounds, ten offensive and 17 defensive. They also had seven assists and 10 steals.

St. Peter 46, BEA 37

After their loss to Fairmont last Friday, the Blue Earth Area girls basketball team attempted to earn a win against St. Peter.

However, the Buccaneers fell short and lost to the Saints, 46-37.

“The girls played good defense and rebounded well,”?BEA?coach Al Cue says. “Unfortunately, we struggled, shorting the ball and being unable to put up enough points to win the game.”

The Bucs started out slow in the first half and were outscored 27-15.

The Saints kicked off the game with a successful two-point shot after the Bucs traveled and lost possession of the ball.

They continued on to score another two points. However, Krista Hassing took two shots at the line, sinking both, to bring the score up to 4-2.

BEA tied the game up, 4-4, when Hassing got another two shots at the free-throw line, which she successfully made.

After that, the Saints took the lead with a two-pointer and continued to forge ahead. The Bucs were unable to catch up for the rest of the first half.

Hassing tallied eight points for the Bucs in the first half. She made several attempts at two-point shots but only made one. However she was 6 for 8 at the free-throw line for a 75 percent accuracy rate.

She also grabbed 10 rebounds in the first part of the game, five offensive and five defensive.

Janessa Jahnke, Kaitlyn Olsen and Ciarra Olson all contributed two points a piece to the first half score.

The Bucs tried to close the gap in the score during the second half. They managed to bring in 22 points compared to the 19 points scored by the Saints.

BEA started off the scoring with Hassing at the free-throw line. She sank her first, but missed the second shot, closing the gap in the score to 27-16.

With 3:11 left on the clock, Jahnke sunk a two-pointer, inching the Bucs a little closer to the Saints, 40-29, and starting a small run on scoring. Hassing followed suit and scored another two-pointer.

However, the girls in maroon and gold weren’t quite able to catch up. At :36.9 the Saints were allowed two free-throw shots which put the score at 46-37.

The Saints stalled the remaining time on the clock and won the game.

Jahnke racked up the most points in the second half. She scored 3 of 6 two-point baskets adding six points to the scoreboard.

Hassing and Kaitlyn Olsen both tallied five points a piece in the second half.

Hassing had seven more rebounds, four offense and three defense.

Hassing ended the game with a total of 13 points with two baskets and 9 of 14 free-throws at a 64 percent accuracy rate.

She grabbed a total of 17 rebounds and had seven steals.

Jahnke was 4 of 7 with her two-point attempts, scoring eight points. She had eight rebounds, four on offense and four defense.

Kaitlyn Olsen brought in seven points total. She was 2 for 2 at the free-throw line and scored a two-pointer and one three-pointer.

Fairmont 47, BEA 35

Turnovers and a lack of completed free-throws not to mention some cold shooting from the floor doomed the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers girls basketball team when they hosted the Fairmont Cardinals on Friday, Jan. 18.

The Bucs fell to the Cards by a score of 47-35.

The Buccaneers fell behind 7-4 early. But, the girls reeled off six unanswered points to take a 10-7 lead.

The Bucs were up 12-9 when Fairmont hit a three to tie the game. It was the last time the Buccaneers would lead in the game.

The half time score was Fairmont 24, BEA 20.

The Bucs outscored the Cards 5-2 to open the second half, pulling within one at 26-25.

BEA was trailing 29-26 when Krista Hassing went to the line two different times and sank a free throw each time, followed by a basket off a rebound of a missed Buccaneer free throw attempt.

Her efforts tied the game at 29-29.

Fairmont, however, came right back with a three-pointer that put them up 32-29 and they stayed ahead the rest of the way.

The Bucs were down by just five at 40-35 with two minutes to go, but never were able to get another point. Fairmont made seven more, mainly from the free-throw line.

The stats show how cold the Bucs’ night of shooting was.

They made only 8 of 45 attempts from the floor, for an 18 percent completion rate. They were 0 of 7 for three-point attempts.

They were better at the free-throw line, making 19 of 32 for 59 percent.

The Bucs also had 24 turnovers in the game.

Leading the scoring was Hassing with 15 points. She had a double-double by adding 10 rebounds.

Jenna Stevermer had six points for the Bucs and Taylor Grandgenett and Chelsea Owen each had four apiece.