Kate Armon (3) drives the lane while trying to score two points for the Bucs.

Lola Lundquist scored eight of Blue Earth Area’s first nine points to give the Bucs an early lead in their girls’ basketball game against their cross-county rival, the United South Central Rebels.

The Bucs went on to take a 20-11 lead at the half and then outscored the Rebels 18-15 in the second half to win the contest 38-26.

“We executed better on both the offensive and defensive ends of the court,” BEA head coach Chris Voss said. “We did things we have been working on in practice.”

The teams traded 3-pointers to begin the second half. Sophie Keister scored her three points the conventional way with a basket and a free throw before Hannah Meyer countered with a basket from behind the arc for the Rebels.

Maddie Schiltz took a pass from Kate Armon and was fouled while putting the ball through the hoop. Schiltz drained the free throw to put the Bucs up 26-13.

USC scored six of the next eight points to cut BEA’s lead to single digits at 28-19 before Armon drove the lane for a basket and Lundquist hit a runner for two more points and a 32-19 Buccaneer lead.

The Maroon and Gold had increased their lead to 15 points at 36-21, but USC’s Maya Zebro swished a 3-pointer and Lexi Johnson scored off an offensive rebound to cut BEA’s lead to 10 points at 36-26.

The last points of the game were scored with 2:13 remaining when Schiltz was fouled and made both free throws.

“Even though we lost, our play was a huge improvement from our last two games,” Rebels’ head coach Paul Meyer commented. “BEA was able to set the tone early by knocking down some 3-pointers. One area I was happy with was the way we cut our turnovers down from the first two games.”

The teams were very even in their shooting percentages from two-point range. USC made 27.8 percent of their shots from inside the arc while BEA made 26.3.

The Rebels were 1-for-11 on 3-pointers while the Bucs were 3-for-16 on long-range shots.

BEA went to the foul line 20 times and converted on nine of their shots. USC was 3-for-4 at the free-throw line.

The Bucs held the edge in rebounding by a 44-35 margin.

Zebro led all scorers with 14 points. She just missed a double-double when she pulled down nine rebounds. Meyer tallied six points and had seven rebounds. Macy Zebro finished with eight rebounds.

Lundquist was the leading scorer for the Bucs with 12 points. She also had six steals.

Schiltz recorded a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds. Sophie Keister scored six points and had 12 rebounds. Chloe Groe had five points and Kate Armon had four.

BEA improves their season record to 2-3 while USC falls to 0-3.

The Bucs were home against New Ulm on Friday, Dec. 17. They travel to Fairmont on Dec. 21, to take on the Cardinals.

USC was at Randolph on Dec. 16 and played host to Kenyon-Wanamingo on Dec. 17. They are at Kenyon-Wanamingo on Dec. 21.