By JIM LUTGENS. Sports Editor
The old adage says it's very difficult to defeat a good team three times in one season.
It was reinforced Monday night.
The NRHEG High School girls' basketball team, seeking its third victory over Waterville-Elysian-Morristown this season, was stifled by the Bucs 55-43 in the Section 2AA South Sub-section championship at Minnesota State-Mankato.
It was a difficult end to a fine season for the Panthers, who started slow and never did recover.
WEM led 10-1 before NRHEG hit its first field goal about five minutes into the game. It was 20-4 when NRHEG coach Onika Peterson called her second time out with 8:33 left in the first half, and it was 26-4 before the Panthers went on a run to pull within 31-17 at halftime.
"Unfortunately, we put ourselves into too big of a hole in the first five minutes of the game," said Coach Peterson. "They came out swinging, hitting two big threes from LaFrance, and Pelant attacked the basket and scored three in a row. We missed and forced up some shots. We were very quickly down by 12 and dominated the first half. I was impressed with the team's heart and grit. They came back fighting in the second half and cut the lead to six.
The Panthers remained within striking distance much of the second half, pulling within 49-43 with three minutes to play. But two NRHEG starters fouled out and the Bucs made their free throws down the stretch.
"We had them on their heels," said Peterson. "Unfortunately, fouls got in our way. Kudos to the WEM team. They had a great game. Good luck to them vs. Glencoe Silver Lake on Friday."
Individually for NRHEG vs. WEM: Faith Nielsen 15 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist; Quinn VanMaldeghem 6P, 9R, 5A, 3 steals; Izley Boerner 4P, 3R, Clara Buendorf 1P, 1R: Hallie Schultz 7P, 8R, 4A; Camryn VanMaldeghem 8P, 3R, 2S 1 blocked shot; Presley Nielsen 2R, Kylie Olson 2P, 4R, 4A, 1S, 1B.
In their previous tournament game, the Panthers handled St. Clairt 62-38, leading 33-18 at halftime.
Individually: F.Nielsen 6P; Q.VanMaldeghem 4P; Schultz 9P; C.VanMaldeghem 12P; Addy Stadheim 2P; P.Nielsen 19P; Olson 10P.
"We were able to get out to a quick start and we were able to carry it throughout the entire game," said Peterson. "Preslie came out huge in the first half, hitting four three-pointers. This was a big team win. We had a lot of kids stepping up tonight. We are extremely excited to get back to the sub-section championship game, and the fact that it is two Gopher Conference teams is pretty awesome."
The second-seeded Panthers finished with a record of 20-7. WEM improved to 18-7 and will face top-seeded Glencoe-Silver Lake Friday for the section championship and state tournament berth.
The Panthers will graduate seniors Schultz, Faith Nielsen, Preslie Nielsen and Hope Nielsen.
"Thank you to this phenomenal group of girls that I was so fortunate to be able to coach," said Peterson. "It was a great year! Thank you to our four seniors Hallie, Faith, Preslie, and Hope."