Bucs fall to the MCW Mavericks 50-34

It was a game of two identical halves when the Blue Earth Area girls basketball team went on the road to play the Martin County West Mavericks on Feb. 4.

The score at halftime found the Mavericks leading the Bucs 25-17 and the final 18 minutes of play produced the same results leaving the Bucs on the short end of the 50-34 score.

It was the 19th win of the year for MCW against four losses while BEA is still in search of their first victory.

The shorter Buccaneer squad had a difficult task going against the taller Maverick girls and it showed in the rebounding statistics where MCW had a 47-20 advantage.

MCW took advantage of their height to fuel an inside game which resulted in 24 points being scored inside the paint.

The Bucs attempted 19 2-pointers and made five (26.3 percent). They were 7-for-30 (23.3 percent) from outside the arc. BEA made half of their free throws, going 3-for-6 from the charity stripe.

MCW was 20-for-42 (47.6 percent) from inside the arc and 1-for-15 (6.7 percent) on their 3-point attempts. They were 7-for-11 (63.6 percent) from the free-throw line.

BEA had one less turnover than MCW with 12 compared to the Mavericks’ 13.

The Bucs had two girls reach double figures in scoring. Lola Lunquist tallied 14 points while Myla Eastman finished with 13.

Leading BEA with five rebounds was Elaena Schiltz. Emersen Weir contributed five assists.

Maple River 49, BEA 48

The Blue Earth Area girls basketball team suffered a heart-breaking loss at home on Feb. 3, when Maple River’s Bria Cole banked in a long-range 3-pointer with 1.4 seconds left in the game to lift the Eagles over the Bucs 49-48.

Cole had struggled from 3-point range throughout the contest and had made only two of her 18 attempts from outside the arc prior to her game-winning shot.

The first half of the game was very similar to the first time the two teams met with the Eagles jumping out to a large lead.

The Bucs didn’t score their first basket until over six minutes had elapsed in the opening half.

Fortunately for BEA, Maple River was also struggling on offense so when Lola Lundquist put the Bucs on the board with her layup with 11:41 to play in the first half, they only trailed the Eagles 7-2.

In fact, BEA scored more points in the final three minutes of the first half than they scored in the opening 15 minutes of the game.

Down 19-11 at the intermission, BEA opened the final 18 minutes of play with two 3-pointers by Lundquist sandwiched around Myla Eastman’s basket from outside the arc for nine consecutive points which gave the Maroon and Gold a 20-19 lead less than three minutes into the final stanza.

The two teams battled back-and-forth throughout the second half, and with just over two minutes remaining in the game the score was tied 43-43.

A 3-pointer by Lundquist at the 1:55 mark put BEA on top 46-43.

Maple Rivers’ Ella Schull made one of two free throws with 1:36 to play to pull the Eagles within two points of the Bucs. An offensive rebound and subsequent basket by the Eagles’ Alli Boening tied the game at 46-46 with 20 seconds left in the game.

BEA’s Myla Eastman was fouled while driving to the basket and with 6.8 seconds showing on the game clock, she calmly sank both of her free throws to give the Bucs a 48-46 lead before Cole ruined the evening for BEA with her game-winning shot.

BEA was 8-for-32 (25 percent) shooting 2-pointers and 8-for 24 (33.3 percent) from 3-point range. They made eight of their 11 (72.7 percent) free-throw attempts.

Maple River was 13-for-33 (39.4 percent) from inside the arc and 5-for-39 (12.8 percent) from outside the arc. They attempted 10 free throws and made eight (80 percent).

The Eagles controlled the boards by a 56-33 margin.

BEA committed 10 turnovers compared to 12 for Maple River.

Lundquist led all scorers in the game with 23 points. Eastman added 17 points for the Bucs while Emersen Weir added two 3-pointers for six points.

Maple River had three players in double figures in scoring. Boening tallied 12 points while Cole and Kelsey Jaeger each had 11.

Fairmont 89, BEA 32

The Fairmont Cardinals defeated Blue Earth Area 89-32 in Fairmont, on Jan. 31.

BEA was without the services of Lola Lundquist who was out with an illness.

The Bucs trailed the Cardinals 45-18 at the half.

Fairmont made the most of their height advantage by out-rebounding BEA 44-20 and scoring 48 of their points from inside the paint.

Myla Eastman led the Bucs in scoring with 16 points. Emersen Weir finished with 11.