FINDING A SEAM — Martin County West’s Lucy Larson (3) finds a seam between Nicollet defenders Shannon Soost (11) and Hayley Selby (back left) and elevates to score a basket during Valley Conference action Monday night in Sherburn. The Mavericks’ Liv Borchardt (11) and the Raiders’ Marah Hulke (1) watch the action. (Photo by Greg Abel)

SHERBURN — Martin County West extinguished Nicollet’s second-half comeback as guard Emily Anderson picked up a co-game-high 26 points, including the eventual game-winner, to pace the hometown Mavericks’ 68-65 Valley Conference basketball win over the Raiders on Monday night in Sherburn.

The Mavericks’ upset victory also ended the Raiders’ winning streak at three games.

“That was an awesome team win,” Martin County West coach Michael Slaba said. “They were getting on the floor and were playing for each other — it was a really fun, high energy win.”

Despite the Mavericks jumping out to a 38-28 halftime lead, the Raiders would mount a furious charge to take a 65-62 lead in the second half. However, Martin County West would put together a six-point rally to shut down the Raiders’ comeback.

Anderson scored five 3-pointers during the contest, to go along with a late 2-pointer and free throw, to put the Mavericks ahead inside the final minutes of regulation time.

Mavericks guard Kari Matejka also chipped in a double-digit point total with 13, while center Liv Borchardt led Martin County West with six rebounds. Forward Ella Carlson added eight points in the winning effort, with Avery Sanders claiming five points off the bench, including a pair of crucial free throws to make it a 65-65 game. Sanders also grabbed the final rebound off a Nicollet 3-point attempt with just seconds to go in regulation to seal the Mavericks’ victory.

“In the second half, we had to keep doing what we were doing,” Slaba said. “We just faced adversity head on and stepped into it, we played really well together down the stretch.”

Guard Marah Hulke led the Raiders offensively with 26 points, claiming seven successful 3-pointers, five of which occurred in the second half to help spark the rally. Forwards Tiana Sand and Hayley Selby also contributed double-digit points with 10 each, along with Selby collecting a game-leading eight rebounds. Guard Brooklyn Bode also earned a solid performance with nine points.

Martin County West (7-11) travels to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Friday for a Valley Conference contest. Nicollet (13-9) travels to New Ulm tonight to take on Minnesota Valley Lutheran in a 7:30 p.m. nonconference matchup.

Jackson County Central 84, Blue Earth Area 37 — Sadie Voss, Maci Farmer and Rylie Cother combined for 73 points to mush the Huskies to a Big South Conference triumph over the Bucs on Monday night in Jackson.

Voss poured in a game-best 27 points, Farmer connected for four 3-pointers to highlight her 25-point performance, while Cother tossed in 21 points.

Jackson County Central (14-7) hits the road to Marshall tonight for another conference game, while Blue Earth Area (4-16) travels to Waseca on Friday night for a league game.

Minnesota Valley Lutheran 78, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther 54 — The Chargers erased a two-point halftime deficit and outscored the Jaguars 40-14 during the second half to post a 34-point non-league victory Monday night in Granada.

Samantha Daleug netted 22 points to pace MVL’s comeback decision.

Katelyn Diegnau poured in a game-leading 26 points and pulled down six rebounds to top the Jaguars, while McKenna Benck scored 12 points and garnered five boards.

Mallery Geistfeld collected five points, pulled down nine boards and doled out five assists for the Jaguars, while Olivia Mattson supplied four points, nine rebounds, four assists and three blocked shots.

Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther (10-9) plays host to Springfield at 7 p.m. Thursday night in Granada.