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Rorman powers Bucs past Huskies

BLUE EARTH — Coming into Thursday’s contest, the Blue Earth Area Bucs knew what to expect against the Jackson County Central Huskies.

When the two teams last played on Dec. 29, in the Blue Earth Holiday Tournament, the Huskies got the better of the Bucs for a narrow two-point win.

This time, the Bucs made the adjustments and avenged the loss for a 59-53 Big South Conference girls basketball victory over the Huskies.

“It definitely told us that (Alaina) Wolff is quite a player,” Bucs head coach Al Cue said of the first meeting. “I don’t know if we did a very good job on her, but I thought we guarded (Molly) Brinkman better tonight. She scored 17 against us the last time. I don’t know that she scored five, but I thought we guarded her better.”

While the Bucs held Brinkman scoreless, Wolff combined with junior guard Melissa Brandt for all 26 of the Huskies’ first-half points. Wolff had 14 and Brandt scored 12.

Down 13-7, the duo erased the visitors’ deficit to take a 26-17 lead over halfway through the opening frame.

The Bucs then rattled off an 11-0 run to cap off the first half for a 28-26 lead. Junior forward Caitlin Rorman netted the first point at the free throw line. Senior center Lindsey Norman was then fouled going up for a shot after junior forward Hannah Johnson’s steal.

Norman provided one of her team-high four assists to senior forward Grace Mensing before Rorman added four more points.

Junior forward Callie Stevermer closed out the Bucs’ first-half scoring by picking off a Huskies pass and taking it all the way for the transition bucket with 37 seconds left.

“I thought our our press in the first half kind of turned things around when we were flat and couldn’t score,” Cue said “I thought we really turned the tide in the first half.”

Wolff and Brandt continued to power the Huskies back and brought the team within one for a 32-31 score six minutes into the final half.

Rorman broke up the short-lived 5-0 run with a basket. Johnson then took a defensive rebound from coast to coast to give the Bucs a 36-31 lead with under 12 minutes to play.

Rorman brought down another defensive rebound and passed up to Stevermer for another layup.

Eighth-grade guard Sadie Voss broke into the Huskies’ scoring column using one of senior guard Lauren Murphy’s assists to get the team back within five.

The Bucs stretched out an eight-point lead in the final five minutes of the game before Wolff, much like in the first half, attempted to bring the Huskies back.

Bucs senior forward Sofie Blair was fouled on a made shot and, with the free throw, put the home team up, 57-50 at the 40-second mark.

Wolff responded with a 3 off a feed from junior guard Kailey Koep before Huskies head coach Chris Aggen immediately called for a timeout.

The Huskies then fouled to try and slow down the clock, but Rorman banked in two free throws to put the game away.

Rorman ended the night with a double-double performance of 26 points on 10-for-19 shooting and 11 rebounds to complement three assists. Johnson supplied the Bucs with 11 points and five rebounds.

“Caitlin finished some big shots. Hannah was aggressive. She hit a big 3 from the corner, but also had a couple of big drives for layups,” Cue said.

Norman tallied four rebounds and six points in addition to her four assists and Grace Mensing scored eight points.

Wolf netted a game-high 28 points with five 3-pointers before fouling out with 16 seconds remaining in the game. Brandt engineered 17 points and a game-best 15 rebounds for a double-double.

“We had a plan, but it seemed like they (Brandt and Wolff) were both scoring at will in the second half,” Cue said. “There were times where I thought we did a pretty good job, but boy, I thought we didn’t defend Brandt very well all night. We tried to defend her after she caught the ball instead of before she had it.”

Murphy had three assists and three steals for JCC.

Blue Earth Area (8-10) hosts St. Peter at 5:30 p.m. Saturday, while Jackson County Central (13-7) plays host to Worthington next Friday.

BEA 28-31–59

JCC 26-27–53

BLUE EARTH AREA (59)

Caitlin Rorman 10-19 6-8 26, Hannah Johnson 4-9 2-2 11, Grace Mensing 3-6 2-2 8, Lindsey Norman 2-4 2-2 6, Sofie Blair 1-6 2-3 4, Callie Stevermer 2-4 0-0 4, Tea Armstrong 1-2 0-0 2, Alyssa Ripley 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 23-50 12-14 59.

JACKSON CO. CENTRAL (53)

Alaina Wolff 10-24 3-4 28, Melissa Brandt 7-12 3-7 17, Kailey Koep 0-4 4-4 4, Lauren Murphy 1-3 0-0 2, Sadie Voss 1-7 0-1 2, Molly Brinkman 0-3 0-0 0, Ali Eckert 0-0 0-0 0, Alyssa Post 0-0 0-0 0, Maria Ripoll-Bartrols 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-53 10-16 53.

3-pointers: Jackson Co. Central 5-18 (Wolff 5-14, Brinkman 0-2, Voss 0-2); Blue Earth Area 1-6 (Johnson 1-1, Mensing 0-1, Blair 0-4). Fouled out: Wolff (JCC) and Koep (JCC). Rebounds: JCC 29 (Brandt 15); BEA 28 (Rorman 11, Johnson 5). Assists: BEA 10 (Noman 4); JCC 9 (Murphy 3). Steals: JCC 8 (Brandt 4); BEA 7.

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