GRANADA — The Jaguar seniors shined on senior night.

The six Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther seniors — Jayme Balcom, Samantha Moeller, Lizzie Oothoudt, Abby Calkins, Makayla Hall and Lydia Steinhaus — combined for 27 points, 17 rebounds, 13 assists and five steals in the Jaguars’ basketball win over Blue Earth Area.

Only seniors took the floor for the Jaguars in the first five minutes of the 63-55 win in Granada on Monday.

“We started our seniors tonight and they did a great job of setting the pace early,” Jaguar head coach TJ Pytleski said. “They got out there and really played aggressive for us. I thought they did a great job setting the tone for us.”

After the seniors set the first-half pace, the Jaguars took a seven-point lead into halftime, then the Bucs started to close the gap.

After a Kaitlin Johnson layup off a Kiera Osmundson assist on an inbounds pass, Arika Howard scored five consecutive points on three free throws and a dribble drive to bring the Bucs within two.

Oothoudt sank one of two free throws to extend the Jaguars’ lead to three, but Eloise Blair hit a mid-range 2 to make it a one-point game.

Michaelah Petrowiak hit a short jumper to give the Jaguars two of her 12 points, then Osmundson answered with a 2 off a Te’a Armstrong assist before Howard assisted Armstrong for a left-wing 3 to put the Bucs ahead with 11:46 left.

“I thought our effort was excellent, we worked really hard,” BEA head coach Al Cue said. “We gave up a lot of inches and that height hurt us early in the second half. Then we gave up two or three 3s in a row and couldn’t catch back up. We had a great run to start the second half and get right back in the game. … We just didn’t finish it off.”

The team’s traded the lead twice more, with one tie, before the Jaguars started to break away.

Balcom hit a trifecta from the right wing off a Petrowiak assist, then Eden Studer scored six consecutive points, helping her build her game-leading 22, while putting the Jaguars ahead 48-41. Studer reached a double-double with 10 rebounds.

The Jaguars maintained at least a seven-point lead until Armstrong hit two free throws, bringing the Bucs within 60-55 with 48 seconds left.

Studer hit two of four free throws in the final minute, while Balcom hit one of two to build the Jaguars’ final total.

The Jaguar win reverses their fortune against the Bucs after BEA won the first matchup between the teams 56-48 during the BEA holiday tournament.

“We came out way more aggressive than the last time we played them so I was happy to see that,” Pytleski said. “I was happy with our performance tonight.”

Balcom reached double-digits for the Jaguars with 11 points, while Steinhaus had a game-high five assists to complement a team-high seven rebounds. Oothoudt totaled four assists and Petrowiak added five boards to her 12 points.

Howard led the Bucs with 14 points, reached a double-double with 11 rebounds and had a team-high four assists, while Armstrong totaled 12 points and dished out three assists. Blair brought down nine rebounds. Oothoudt scored nine points, while Johnson had eight for the Bucs.

Blue Earth Area (2-15) plays at New Ulm at 7:30 p.m. Thursday night.

The Jaguars (8-9) go to Okabena to face Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda at 7 p.m. Thursday.

B.E. Area 22-33–55

GHECTML 29-34–63

B.E. AREA (55)

Arika Howard 4-12 6-8 14, Te’a Armstrong 3-11 4-6 12, McKenna Dutton 4-11 0-0 9, Kaitlin Johnson 4-13 0-2 8, Lauren Schavey 2-3 1-2 6, Eloise Blair 2-6 0-0 4, Kiera Osmundson 1-4 0-0 2. Totals: 20-60 12-18 55.

GHECTML (63)

Eden Studer 8-13 507 22, Michaelah Petrowiak 6-9 0-4 12, Jayme Balcom 4-11 1-2 11, Lizzie Oothoudt 2-7 1-2 7, Lydia Steinhaus 1-5 2-4 5, Makayla Hall 2-5 0-0 4, Emily Stauter 1-3 0-0 2, Abby Calkins 0-2 0-0 0, Samantha Moeller 0-1 0-0 0, Katelyn Diegnau 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 24-57 9-19 63.

3-pointers: Blue Earth Area 4-10 (Armstrong 2-5); Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 6-19 (Oothoudt 2-6, Balcom 2-8). Fouled out: Howard (BEA), Osmundson (BEA). Rebounds: BEA 37 (Howard 11, Blair 9, Johnson 7); GHECTML 35 (Studer 10, Steinhaus 7, Balcom 5, Petrowiak 5). Assists: BEA 13 (Howard 4, Johnson 3, Armstrong 3); GHECTML 17 (Steinhaus 5, Oothoudt 4, Calkins 3). Steals: BEA 9 (Blair 3); GHECTML 8.