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Panthers eliminate Bucs from 2AA hoops playoffs

MANKATO — New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva utilized balanced point production on offense with an effective 1-3-1 defensive scheme to advance to the Section 2AA basketball championship game.

The senior backcourt twin tandem of Marnie and Maddie Wagner combined for 27 points, 15 rebounds, six steals and six assists to power the No. 1-seeded Panthers to a 59-39 victory over the No. 2-seeded Blue Earth Area Bucs for the South Sub-Section crown on Tuesday night at the Taylor Center on the Minnesota State University campus in Mankato.

New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva (24-5) advances to face North Sub-Section champion Norwood-Young America (28-1) in Friday night’s 8 p.m. sectional championship. NYA reached the next round via a 62-53 triumph over Glencoe-Silver Lake (17-12).

Blue Earth Area ended its season with a 15-13 record.

“We usually focus on playing good defense, no matter who are playing, and try to stay aggressive in attacking the basket at the offensive end,” Panthers head coach Onika Peterson said during the pre-game warmups.

NRHEG’s 1-3-1 zone morphed into a 1-2-2 at times, causing Blue Earth Area’s deliberate offense to miss its first six shots from the field as Marnie Wagner and the Panthers built an early 8-1 lead.

“I thought we defended fairly well, but just couldn’t find a way to score at the other end tonight,” said Bucs head coach Al Cue, whose lineup dropped a 62-43 regular-season decision to the Panthers exactly two weeks ago.

Sophomore forward Caitlin Rorman, who pocketed 11 points to complement three steals, ended Blue Earth Area’s rare scoring drought by swooshing a baseline jumper off an assist from Reegan Howard at the 11:55 juncture.

Kayley Camerer drilled a right-corner 3-pointer off one of Maddie Wagner’s game-high four assists before Sofie Blair countered for the Bucs by converting a traditional 3-point play to pare the deficit to 13-6 at the 9-minute juncture.

Marnie Wagner, who finished with a game-best 15 points to go with four steals, seven boards and two assists, used her defensive prowess to trigger NRHEG’s ensuing 7-0 run en route to a 20-6 edge.

Marnie Wagner transformed a midcourt theft into a layup before clearing the defensive glass and nailing a pull-up jumper in the lane. Maddie Wagner then delivered three of her 12 points via a trifecta from the left corner to cap the outburst.

Trailing 24-8, the Bucs reeled off a much-needed 7-2 run to close out the final 3 minutes of the first half to pull within 11 by intermission.

Lindsey Norman sank a solo free throw, Samantha Ripley tossed in the front end of a one-and-one before Rorman drilled a 3 from the top of the key and added a steal-turned-two free throws at the 5-second mark before halftime.

Each team scored one point apiece during the first 5 minutes of the second half before Panther senior wing Rachel Collins’ perimeter prowess matched Buc senior guard Samantha Barslou’s 3-point sharpshooting.

Barslou, who netted a team-best 12 points, drilled bookend 3s around Sidney Blair’s solo free throw to whittle Blue Earth Area’s deficit to 33-25 with 8:50 remaining in regulation.

“We finally were able to cut it (NRHEG’s lead) to eight during the second half, but we couldn’t get any closer,” said Cue.

Maddie Wagner literally elevated her game by nailing a pull-up 12-footer in the paint before cashing in Collins’ precision pass through traffic for a runner to re-establish a double-digit Panther lead at 37-25 with 7:43 to go.

Norman’s putback basket later inched the Bucs within 10 only to see Collins knock down one of her two clutch treys to keep Blue Earth Area at bay.

Norman finished with five points and a team-best six rebounds for the Bucs.

Maddie Wagner pulled down a game-high eight boards for the Panthers, while Collins and Camerer each contributed 10 points to the winning effort.

B.E. Area 15-24–39

NRHEG 26-33–59

B.E. AREA (39)

Caitlin Rorman 4-14 2-2 11, Sofie Blair 1-2 2-5 4, Lindsey Norman 2-7 1-2 5, Reegan Howard 0-3 0-0 0, Samantha Barslou 3-11 3-5 12, Sidney Blair 0-0 2-4 2, Samantha Ripley 0-1 2-4 2, Hannah Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Brittany Johnson 1-1 0-0 3. Totals 11-39 12-22 39.

NRHEG (59)

Kayley Camerer 3-11 3-4 10, Rachel Collins 3-5 2-3 10, Kelly Harden 0-1 1-2 1, Marnie Wagner 5-11 5-6 15, Maddie Wagner 5-11 0-0 12, Betsy Schoenrock 3-4 0-0 6, Grace Johnson 1-3 0-0 3, Gabby Muri 1-1 0-0 2. Totals 21-47 11-15 59.

3-pointers: NRHEG 6-14 (Collins 2-3, Maddie Wagner 2-6, Camerer 1-3, Johns 1-2); B.E. Area 5-18 (Barslou 3-9, Rorman 1-4, B. Johnson 1-1, Howard 0-3, Sofie Blair 0-1). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: NRHEG 30 (Maddie Wagner 8, Marnie Wagner 7); B.E. Area 25 (Norman 6). Assists: NRHEG 10 (Maddie Wagner 4, Camerer 3); B.E. Area 7 (Howard 3). Steals: NRHEG 10 (Marnie Wagner 4); B.E. Area 6 (Rorman 3).

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