BLUE EARTH — Martin County West went ahead less than a minute into the game and never gave up its lead on the way to a 52-30 nonconference basketball win against Blue Earth Area on Tuesday in Blue Earth.

The Bucs’ McKenna Dutton got BEA on the board first with a mid-range jumper off a Te’a Armstrong assist before MCW’s Sami Meyer gave the Mavericks the lead they would keep off a traditional three-point play.

Neither team scored in the following three minutes until Meyer broke the spell with two made free throws at the 14:02 juncture to put the Mavericks ahead 5-2.

Liz Fisher extended the Mavericks’ lead with two more free throws at the 12:30 mark before Arika Howard made the game’s third field goal to bring the Bucs’ within 7-4. Kari Matejka hit a short jumper off a Fisher assist to give the Mavericks a 9-4 advantage, then Armstrong turned a steal into two points after she was fouled and hit both free throws for the Bucs.

Gabby Lange made back-to-back shots from the low post for the Mavericks, then Eloise Blair made back-to-back layups for the Bucs, one off an Armstrong assist and one a steal-turned-layup.

They would be the final points of the first half for the Bucs, while the Mavericks got two more from both Meyer and Matejka, a free throw from Emily Dunlop and a right-wing 3 from Marissa Whitehead to take a 21-10 lead into halftime.

MCW head coach Rodger Taylor said though the game started slowly, the Maverick girls did what needed to be done.

“It was a little sluggish to start, I thought defensively we did some nice things and our defense got better as the game went on,” Taylor said. “Blue Earth struggled making some shots, which helped, but we did a much better job of running our offense and doing what we needed to do.”

The second half started quicker than the first for both teams, with the score reaching 33-16 Mavericks within the first five minutes.

Meyer got the scoring started for MCW with a mid-range jumper before Armstrong hit a response 3 for the Bucs.

Whitehead hit a 3 of her own from the right wing, then Kiera Osmundson got the Bucs three more points off a right-corner 3 from a drive-and-dish assist from Arika Howard.

The Mavericks started to extend their lead with a long baseline jumper from Meyer, a hard-fought layup from Dunlop and a 3 from Whitehead on the left wing.

Gabby Lange kept the Maverick run going with four consecutive points on post layups before Whitehead turned a steal into a layup to put the Mavericks ahead 39-16 with 8:30 left.

The Mavericks maintained a 20-point advantage the rest of the way.

Gabby Lange led the Mavericks with 13 points on 6 of 7 shooting, while Meyer scored 11.

Whitehead scored eight points, dished out five assists and tipped away five steals, while Matejka scored nine points, brought down a co-team high four rebounds and dished out three assists.

Sophia Keister and Blair led the Bucs with six points each, while Keister brought down a co-game high five rebounds.

Armstrong and Dutton each scored five and Osmundson grabbed five rebounds.

MCW (6-5, 4-1 Valley Conference) plays host to Cleveland in Valley Conference action at 6 p.m. Thursday. BEA (1-10, 0-4 Big South) goes to St. James for a 7:15 p.m. Big South Conference matchup Thursday.

MCW 21-31–52

BEA 10-20–30

MCW (52)

Lange 6-7 1-3 13, Meyer 4-7 3-3 11, Matejka 3-5 2-3 9, Whitehead 3-8 0-0 8, Dunlop 3-3 1-2 7, Fisher 0-2 2-2 2, Rubi Reyes 0-4 2-3 2, Taylor Elliott 0-1 0-0 0, Emily Anderson 0-1 0-0 0, Thea Anderson 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 19-41 11-16 52.

B.E. AREA (30)

Keister 3-4 0-0 6, Blair 3-9 0-2 6, Armstrong 1-5 2-4 5, Dutton 2-5 0-0 5, Jaden Barnett 1-3 1-3 4, Howard 1-6 0-0 2, Kaitlin Johnson 0-1 2-2 2, Osmundson 0-7 0-0 0, Lauren Schavey 0-1 0-0 0, Katherine Armson 0-1 0-0 0, Maddie Schiltz 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 11-43 5-10 30.

3-pointers: MCW 3-9; BEA 3-11. Rebounds: MCW 24 (Matejka 4, Dunlop 4); BEA 24 (Osmundson 5, Keister 5). Assists: MCW 13 (Whitehead 5, Matejka 3); BEA 8 (Howard 3). Steals: MCW 15 (Whitehead 5, Fisher 3); BEA 9.

Worthington 69, Fairmont 59 — The Trojans clung to a two-point halftime lead and then fended off the Cardinals’ second-half comeback to win by 10 during Big South Conference action Tuesday night in Worthington.

Stephie Bauman netted 13 points to pace a balanced Worthington offensive effort, Tarren Spartz scored 12, Madisyn Huisman tallied 11 points, while Maya Scheitel-Taylor chipped in 10 points.

Rayah Quiring produced a team-best 12 points on 5-for-6 field-goal shooting for Fairmont, while Cadence Becker and Faith Olson each contributed 11 points. Becker also pulled down eight boards and distributed four assists, while Olson shot 4 of 6, including a pair of 3-pointers.

Maggy Totzke generated eight points and pocketed five steals for the Cardinals, Brittney Mosloski pulled down a team-leading 11 rebounds to complement seven points, Madysen Allen chipped in seven points, while Emma Gudahl added three steals.

The Cardinals connected on 22 of 58 field goals, including 7 of 17 from 3-point range, and added 8 of 12 from the free throw line.

Fairmont (8-6) plays host to Waseca on Thursday night.

Fairmont 28-31–59

Worthington 30-39–69

Worthington downed Fairmont in C-squad action, 35-27, Tuesday night in Worthington.

Abby Cihoski produced a double-double performance of 17 points and 10 rebounds to go with four steals to top the Cardinals, while Anna Busche and Kate Busche supplied five rebounds and five assists, respectively.

Fairmont (5-1) hosts Waseca on Thursday night.

North Union 43, Graettinger-Terril/Ruthven-Ayrshire 34 — Chloe Lofstrom continued her torrid double-double pace by generating game-bests of 21 points and 18 rebounds to pace the Warriors’ nine-point Top of Iowa Conference win over the Knights on Tuesday night in Armstrong.

Lofstrom also delivered three blocked shots, while teammate Brooklyn Prochniak supplied six points.

Sam Nielsen grabbed six rebounds for North Union, while Hope Steinberger and Vanessa Von Bank distributed three assists apiece.

North Union (8-4) travels to Buffalo Center, Iowa, Friday night to play North Iowa.