BEA’s Caitlin Rorman took control in the second half of their last game at Fairmont. Rorman finished the contest with 20 points in a 51-43 win for the Bucs.

The Blue Earth Area girls enjoyed a top notch performance in their latest road game against arch rival Fairmont on Jan. 19. The end result was a 51-43 victory which improved BEA’s record to 8-8 on the season.

After falling behind 11-5 early in the first half, the Buccaneers went on a 16-0 run to seize control of the game. However, the hard charging Cardinals went on a 17-5 run of their own to close out the half. At intermission, Fairmont held a 28-26 advantage in the seesaw affair.

Blue Earth Area senior Sofie Blair got the second half underway by connecting from beyond the arc, and gave the Bucs a 29-28 lead. She ended the game with six points, two rebounds, one assist, and one steal.

From that point, the maroon and gold maintained the lead for the rest of the contest. BEA’s stingy second half defense held Fairmont to just 15 points in the period.

As a team, the Bucs won the turnover battle, committing just 14 turnovers compared with Fairmont’s 19. Afterwards, Buccaneer head coach Al Cue commended his team’s defensive intensity, which helped register 13 steals on the evening.

“After trailing early, our defense forced a number of Fairmont turnovers midway through the first half,” Cue said. “I thought our second half man defense made the difference in the game tonight. We did a good job of getting under and around their screens.”

Buccaneer standout Caitlin Rorman once again led the team in scoring with 20 points in the game. This marked the 14th time Rorman has led the Bucs in scoring through 16 games this season. She also grabbed six rebounds, five steals, and dished out three assists.

Meanwhile, Grace Mensing added nine points, Hannah Johnson also scored nine, and Lindsey Norman had four points for the Bucs.

Due to the major snowstorm, Blue Earth Area’s next two games against Granada Huntley East Chain-Truman-Martin Luther and LeSueur-Henderson were postponed. BEA will square off against GHEC/T/ML on the road on Feb. 16, and will face LeSueur Henderson at home on Feb. 5.

On Friday, Jan. 26, the girls from Blue Earth traveled to Waseca for a confrontation with the Bluejays. Results from this contest will be available in next week’s edition of the Faribault County Register.