Blue Earth Area went up against their rivals in hopes of a win, but were unable to succeed.

The Buccaneer girls basketball team headed to Fairmont to challenge the Cardinals on Tuesday, Feb. 19.

The gap in the score never got too far away from the Bucs. Unfortunately they just couldn’t seem to pull ahead, and the Cards defeated their visitors by a score of 49-36.

“The girls played very aggressively in this game,”?says Coach Al Cue.

The game started out slow with both teams scoring back in forth Fairmont keeping the lead.

But, as the clock counted down from 9:24 in the first half, the Bucs started to creep ahead.

Kaitlyn Olsen sank a shot from the field bumping the score to 12-11 BEA?trailing by one.

Then, Krista Hassing fouled the Cards’ Courtney?Mosloskit who had two at the line. She missed the first and sank the second.

Hassing was fouled by a Fairmont player shortly after and had her chance at the line as well. She made both foul shots and tied the game, 13-13.

As quickly as the Bucs tied the game, Fairmont was just as quick to take the lead back. They made consecutive baskets and pulled ahead.

The score was 19-13 and the first half of the game was nearing an end. Hassing rebounded the ball and took a shot from directly under the basket that put the score at 19-15.

But, with just :49 left on the clock, Fairmont sank another shot from the field and ended the first half with a lead of 21-15

After halftime, the Cards didn’t waste any time adding points to the score board.

Kristin Campe of Fairmont made a three-point shot.

Jenna Stevermer responded immediately with a shot from behind the three-point line as well, cutting the lead to 27-18.

However, the Cards held a strong lead for quite awhile until Hassing was fouled and got two shots at the line. She sank both which put the score at 33-24.

As Fairmont racked up the points BEA?continued to play hard.

“The defense was good overall, but we had trouble putting the ball in the basket,”?coach Cue says.

The clock was down to 8:20 and Hassing was fouled. She had two shots at the line, sinking both and raising the score to 38-31.

Then, Olsen followed up with a basket of her own so the scoreboard read 38-33.

It was a series of Cards baskets that cemented their lead and the Bucs only found additional points with free-throw shots.

Stevermer fouled a Cards player in the last seconds of the game. She missed the first shot and sank the second, bumping the score to 49-34.

Just as the time was about to expire, Olsen was fouled and successfully made her shots. But the two points were not enough to take the game in the last 24 seconds.

Even though Fairmont went away with the win, 49-36, BEA?showed off some of their strong points.

The Bucs were successful at the foul line with 14 of 17 shots made for an 82 percent accuracy rate. Fairmont had equal chances at the line but could only manage to make 10 of their shots.

BEA?was also able to grab more rebounds than their opponents. They took a total of 22 rebounds, 10 on offense and 12 on defense. Fairmont finished with just 18 rebounds.

Hassing led her teammates in scoring by tallying a total of 20 points. She sank five from the field and was 10 for 11 at the free-throw line for a 91 percent accuracy rate.

She also had seven rebounds and two steals.

Olsen racked up nine points for the Bucs with two baskets, one three pointer and two free throws. She also had three rebounds.

Stevermer brought in five points with one basket and one three pointer.

“We seem to be too reliant on a couple of players,”?the Bucs coach says. “We need to get points from more people.”

MCW 59, BEA 42

After two consecutive wins an off night can be expected.

The Blue Earth Area girls basketball team had just such a night.

The Bucs traveled to take on the Martin County West Mavericks last Friday where they fell short of a win by a score of 59-42.

The Mavericks were accurate with their shots from the field which gave them the upper hand.

They were 23 of 32 for a 72 percent accuracy rate and were 3 of 4 with their three pointers for 75 percent accuracy.

The Bucs lacked that consistency, sinking only 17 of 45 baskets for a 38 percent accuracy rate.

The girls in maroon and gold also tallied five free-throw shots and one three pointer.

The two teams were a little closer in skill set when it came to grabbing rebounds.

BEA had 20 on defense and eight on offense while MCW grabbed 20 on defense and nine on offense.

Krista Hassing led her teammates in scoring. She brought in 23 points by way of 11 baskets and one free-throw point.

Hassing also grabbed 12 rebounds, nine on offense and three on defense. She had three blocks, three steals and seven assists.

Chelsea Owen brought in four points for the Bucs with one basket and two free-throw points.

Jenna Stevermer also contributed four points with a basket and was 2 for 2 with her foul shots.

Janessa Jahnke only brought in two points for the Bucs but she aided the team by getting rebounds. She has six overall with four on defense and two on offense.

Taylor Grandgenett brought in three points and had BEA’s one and only shot from behind the thee-point line.