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By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva girls' basketball team is entering postseason play on a positive note.
The Panthers prevailed 69-62 against a good Maple River squad in the final game of the regular season Friday, Feb. 16 in New Richland.
NRHEG finished 11-5 in the Gopher Conference West while improving their season record to 18-7.
"This was a huge team win for us," said Panthers coach Onika Peterson. "I’m extremely proud of this group. They continue to work and grind every day. We were able
to take advantage of Thomas and McGregor being in foul trouble in the first half.”
And while the Panthers led by 13 at haltfime, 35-22, Peterson warned her players that this isn't a huge margin for a team like Maple River that likes to shoot three-pointers.
"Our defense really stepped up in the second half and met the challenge," said Peterson. "It was a great night."
Camryn VanMaldeghem, a sophomore, continued to put up great numbers, totaling 32 points, 12 rebounds, four assists, five steals and one blocked shots.
Faith Nielsen and Kylie Olson also had a strong night, Neilsen netting 13 points, seven rebounds and a steal, Olson 13 points, 11 rebounds, two assists and a block.
Others: Quinn VanMaldeghem 5P, 4R, 3A, 2S; Izley Boerner 2P, 4R, 2A; Hallie Schultz 3P, 6R, 4A, 1S; Addy Stadheim 1P, 1R; Presley Nielsen 4P, 1A, 1S.
Seeds are yet to be set for the Section 2AA tournament, which begins Monday, Feb. 26 at the higher seeded team, continues Feb. 29 and March 4 at Mankato East High School. The section champion and state tournament berth will be decided March 8 at 7:45 p.m. at Minnesota State-Mankato.
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By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
Too many turnovers and not enough physicality led to another loss for the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys' basketball team Monday night, 77-46 at St. James Area.
The Panthers, 1-7 in the Gopher Conference, dropped to 3-20 overall.
"We still need to work on valuing every possession, and we've slipped of late fighting for rebounds and that position," said NRHEG coach Dan Schmidt. "We were very evenly matched with St James, but it's those little things that continue to put us in big first-half holes. It's on me to figure out how to get that second-half effort to start in the first half, so we don't have to play from so far behind. We've got three regular season games to try to square it away."
Will Tuttle led the Panthers in scoring with 13 points and seven rebounds. Jared Lee and Greyson Schaefer kicked in seven points each, Jase Knudson, Jordan Brouwers, and Ricky Zapata four each. Jackson Chrz, Hudson Chrz, and Dom Olson scored two each, and Brendan Schmidt added a free throw.
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By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
The NRHEG High School girls' basketball team played a pair of rivalry games late last week.
Both were very close. The results were mixed.
After defeating WEM 56-51 at New Richland Tuesday, the Panthers lost 68-65 in the first game of a boy-girl doubleheader Friday at JWP.
NRHEG ran its record to 17-7 overall and 10-5 in the Gopher Conference.
JWP, which led 31-28 at halftime, completed a season sweep of the Panthers while celebrating Katie Olson's 1,000th career point.
Fouls plagued the Panthers.
"We got up quick in the first couple of minutes of the game and unfortunately got into a little bit of foul trouble," said coach Onika Peterson. "We struggled boxing out and rebounding in the first half and gave them too many chances at second and third-chance shot opportunities. We struggled for a two-minute time span in the first half where they were able to hit some big shots when they needed to and caught up."
It was close in the second half as the Panthers fell behind by seven points but pulled to within one in the final minute.
"We had a chance to pull ahead, but didn’t," said Peterson. "It was a great competitive game of basketball, something you always want to have. Unfortunately, it wasn’t our night. Congrats to JWP’s Katie Olson on hitting her 1,000 points."
The Panthers' Camryn VanMaldeghem led all scorers with 30 points, adding six rebounds and three steals. Faith Nielsen had 13 points, three rebounds and two steals.
Others: Quinn VanMaldeghem 7P, 2R, 2S; Izley Boerner 2R, 1S; Hallie Schultz 2P, 6R, 2S; Addy Stadheim 4P, 2R; Presley Nielsen 3P, 4R; Kylie Olson 6P, 4R, 1S.
Against WEM, the Panthers rallied from a 26-22 halftime deficit.
"It is always a huge battle between NRHEG and WEM," said Peterson. "It was a fun back and forth game all night. Our kids really stepped up after a couple of rough games the previous week with Triton and USC. I'm very proud of this team and their effort that they put on the floor."
Individually: F.Nielsen 13P, 1R, 2S; Q.VanMaldeghem 12P, 10R, 5A, 3S; Boerner 3R; Schultz 8P, 6R, 2A, 1S; C.VanMaldeghem 18P, 7R, 5A, 5S, 1 blocked shot; P.Nielsen 2R, 1A; Olson 5P, 6R, 2A, 1S, 3B.
The Panthers conclude the regular season Friday, Feb. 16 at 7:15 at home against Maple River.
Section 2AA tournament play starts Feb. 26.