Following their 71-21 wipeout of St. James on Jan. 4, the Blue Earth Area Buccaneers (6-7) were on the road against St. Peter on Jan. 9. Unfortunately for the Blue Earth Area girls, they were unable to carry any momentum into their next game against a far more formidable opponent.

The St. Peter Saints topped BEA, 52-46. Simply put, the Saints had too much firepower from beyond the arch for the Bucs to contend with.

The Saints drained 10 three-point field goals, while shooting a blistering 40 percent from downtown on the evening. By comparison, BEA only converted on two of their eight shots from downtown.

St. Peter’s hot shooting and tenacious rebounding in the first half led to a 24-16 advantage over the Bucs at intermission. For the game, St. Peter’s decisive 40-30 rebounding advantage played a key factor in the ballgame.

On a positive note, the Bucs used their trademark intensity to make the game competitive in the second half. In particular, BEA leading scorer Caitlin Rorman added to her stellar output this season.

The sharpshooting junior posted 27 points on 9-of-18 shooting while playing 34 of a possible 36 minutes in the game. In the process, Rorman also snagged eight rebounds and recorded three steals as well.

Buccaneers head coach Al Cue was very pleased with Rorman’s outstanding effort. The Bucs basketball coach explained what makes Rorman such a difficult player for opposing teams to contend with on a nightly basis.

“She’s just a good all-around player, she’s a two handed player that can finish around the basket with either hand,” Cue said of Rorman.

“She can shoot from the outside so defenses have to respect that. She also has good size, so if they put a post player on her, she can take them out on the perimeter. If they put a guard on her, she can go down on the block and go to work,” he added.

Another bright spot for the Bucs was their improved ball security against the Saints. With just 10 turnovers in the contest, BEA protected the ball better than St. Peter, who committed 17 turnovers.

The Buccaneers traveled to New Ulm for a Friday night showdown against the Eagles on Jan. 12. Results from this game will be available in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.