By JIM LUTGENS
Sports Editor
There's no doubt it.
The NRHEG High School girls' basketball team is on a roll.
The Panthers improved to 3-0 in the Gopher Conference and 8-1 overall with wins over St. Clair and United South Central before tacking on two more victories while winning the St. James Holiday Tournament.
The Panthers started their run Dec. 21 at St. Clair, where the rallied from a halftime deficit to win 72-69.
"What a rollercoaster of a game," said NRHEG coach Onika Peterson.
It began with an 11-point Panther lead in the first half.
"But we couldn’t buy a layup in the last eight minutes," said Peterson, whose team trailed 28-27 at halftime."
It was back and forth the rest of the way until the final few seconds, when Camryn VanMaldeghem came through with a huge steal and Faith Neilsen hit an easy shot to finish it off.
"I am so proud of this team, their composure, and never die attitude!" said Peterson. "Hats off to a tough, well coached St. Clair team. It was a fun battle."
For the Panthers, Camryn VanMaldeghem finished with 20 points, six rebounds and four steals while Faith Nielsen totaled 19 points and two rebounds. Izley Boerner also reached double-digit scoring with 13 points, adding five rebounds.
Others: Quinn VanMaldeghem three points, 15 rebounds, two steals; Hallie Schultz six points, nine rebounds; Addy Stadheim two points; Chloe Stork one rebound; Paige Nielsen two points, four rebounds, one charge; Kylie Olson seven points, three rebounds.
Coach Peterson recognized St. Clair senior guard Stephanie Cink, who topped the 1,000-point milestone for her career.
"It was very well deserved," said Peterson.
The Panthers hosted USC the next night and won handily, 80-36. It was 48-20 at halftime.
"Our effort was great tonight," said Peterson. "We didn’t shoot the ball overly well, but our offensive rebounding was huge. We are going into the holiday break with a couple of nice wins under our belt."
Individually: Faith Nielsen 11P, 2R, 1A; Quinn VanMaldghem 5R, 2A, 1S; Boerner 13P, 4R, 2A, 2S; Clara Buendorf 1R; Schultz 8P, 11R, 3S, 1S, 1 block; Camryn VanMaldeghem 16P, 9R, 8A, 3S; Stork 4P, 3R, 1A, 1B; Hope Nielsen 3P; Olson 4P, 3R, 2B.
The success continued Dec. 27-28 at St. James, where the Panthers defeated Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 66-57 in the first round and topped St. James 74-68 for the championship.
The Panthers extended their winning streak to seven games. They return to action Friday, Jan. 5 at Kenyon-Wanamingo and Jan. 9 at WEM. They host Hayfield Jan. 11.