NRHEG Star Eagle

137 Years Serving the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Area
Newspaper of Record for NRHEG School District
Newspaper of Record for Waseca County, MN
PO Box 248 • New Richland, MN 56072

507-463-8112
email: steagle@hickorytech.net
Published every Thursday
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Win at BP leaves Panthers 5-0

By JIM LUTGENS

Editor/Publisher

Thursday night’s Gopher Conference dual wrestling meet between NRHEG and Blooming Prairie started out decidedly in favor of the Blossoms.

After that it was all Panthers. Literally. And now they’re alone at the top of the standings.

After dropping the first match by fall, the Panthers won every bout for the evening while rolling to a 44-6 victory at Blooming Prairie, giving them the outright conference championship with a 5-0 dual-meet record. Maple River won it last year.

“Winning the conference is a goal that we had for the season, and I am proud that our wrestlers have been putting in the work to reach one of their goals,” said NRHEG coach Shawn Larson. “I am hoping that they are not going to be content with the conference title alone. I hope that these guys are ready to make a solid run at a section title.”

By TROY THOMPSON

Sportswriter

The NRHEG boys’ basketball team faced a hostile environment and formidable foe on Tuesday, Feb. 3 when they traveled to Waseca for a game against the Section 2AA-leading Bluejays. The Panthers seemed to thrive off the electricity and came away with a dominating 74-53 victory.

Facing a capacity crowd and boisterous fans, the Panthers seemed unfazed as they quickly jumped out to a 13-5 lead thanks to some early hot shooting by Oakley Baker and Trevor Tracy. The Panthers used the early confidence to quiet the crowd and build a 20-point lead en route to a 37-25 advantage at the half.

“I have not been to a regular season game where there were more people,” said NRHEG coach Pat Churchill. “The atmosphere was awesome. We shot the ball really well to start and I think that was the key to the game for us.We got our confidence going early on the offensive end.”

By TROY THOMPSON

Sportswriter

It’s been more than a decade since Waterville-Elysian-Morristown came out on top against NRHEG in girls’ basketball. The visiting Bucs ended that drought on Friday, Feb. 6, with a 64-53 victory that also snapped NRHEG’s six-game winning streak. The win was the first for the Bucs over the Panthers since the 2001-02 season.

The Panthers led 10-9 before WEM went on a run to open up a 28-19 lead at the half. The Panthers battled back to regain the lead 38-37 in the second half with a Kayley Camerer layup, but she left the game after the go-ahead basket with an ankle injury and wouldn’t return.

The Bucs took advantage of Camerer’s absence by feeding the ball inside to their post players en route to a 7-0 run that would give them the lead for good.