Lola Lundquist brings the ball up court during BEA’s game against Sibley East.

The Sibley East girls basketball team defeated Blue Earth Area 65-43 to take home the championship of the BEA Holiday Tournament on Dec. 29.

The girls’ side of the tournament featured only three teams. Sibley East downed Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 63-46 on Thursday, Dec. 28 before dispatching the Bucs the following day.

The Bucs’ lack of size once again played a major factor in the outcome of the game. The Wolverines controlled the boards and had a 69-22 advantage in rebounding which led to Sibley East scoring 28 second-chance points to only seven for BEA.

The Bucs took an early 4-0 lead when Lola Lundquist hit a shot from just inside the 3-point line and then drove to the basket for a layup.

Kate Arneson of the Wolverines narrowed the gap to one point when she ripped the nets on a 3-point shot. Sibley East then went ahead 5-4 when they made two free-throw shots.

BEA countered with a field goal by Lundquist and one free throw each by Lundquist and Kate Armon to forge an 8-5 advantage.

The two teams continued to battle and were tied at 11-11 before the Wolverines had a 5-0 run to go on top 16-11.

A basket by Armon cut the Sibley East lead to 16-13 before the Wolverines connected on two consecutive 3-pointers to extend their advantage to 22-13.

Not to be outdone, Armon made two consecutive shots from outside the arc to cut the Sibley East lead to 22-19 with four minutes to play in the first half.

The Wolverines outscored the Bucs 8-4 in the closing minutes of the opening stanza to make the score 30-23, in favor of Sibley East, at the intermission.

Sibley East scored the first basket of the second half to move out in front by a 32-23 margin before BEA put together a 7-0 run to pull within two points of the Wolverines.

The run began when Lundquist got free in the paint and put the ball through the hoop for two points. Then, a steal by Erika Gaydon led to a basket by Armon that cut the Sibley East lead to 32-27.

A 3-pointer by Lundquist had the Bucs within two points of the Wolverines at 32-30 with 15:54 left in the game.

Unfortunately for BEA, that would be as close as they would get. Sibley East began to control the boards and pull away for the 22-point win.

Armon and Lundquist scored all but two of the points for the Bucs during the game. Armon finished with 22 while Lundquist added 19. Isabel Vargas scored the other two points.

The Wolverines were led by Morgan Bednarek who had a double-double with 27 points and 15 rebounds. Arneson added 12 points and Lauren Bauer finished with nine. Bauer also had 11 rebounds.

Lundquist was the leading rebounder for BEA with six.

Gaydon had three steals for the Bucs while Lundquist had two.

BEA traveled to Janesville on Thursday, Jan. 4, to take on the Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton Bulldogs. The results of that contest will be in the next edition of the Faribault County Register.