ELEVATING — Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther’s Bethany Petrowiak drives around Madelia’s Lauryn Grev (21) and elevates to fire a jumpshot during Valley Conference basketball action Tuesday night in Truman. (Photo by Greg Abel)

TRUMAN — Going on the road for five games could knock a team out of its rhythm. Throw in the fact the Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther Jaguars girls basketball team was in its second night of back-to-back play and honoring their two seniors Gracie Zaharia and Ashley Engelby. Despite a slow start, the Jaguars cruised their way to a 61-35 Valley Conference victory over Madelia.

“We came out slow. We couldn’t get going until the second half of the first half. You always got to focus on the game you are playing currently. The girls did well when they pressed in the second half and it got us back in the game,” Jaguars coach T.J. Pytleski said. “Our defense turned it up. We got some nice steals. We got some nice looks and layups. We really need to work on our press more. They broke it pretty easily. We can’t have the lack of intensity to start a game. We got to be more patient on offense. We need to move the ball around and not have first pass then shoot. When we spread it around, we got better looks.”

The Blackhawks jumped out to grab an early 5-0 lead 1:22 into the game as Alicia Lugo took advantage of a wide-open three. Olivia Mattson’s first bucket of the game would give the Jags their first lead of the game as they never looked back in the contest at 8-6 at the 11:39 mark. Keira Benck set up the play with one of her seven steals, dishing the ball to Mattson.

“I like to watch their eyes. A lot of girls give it away when and where they are going to throw it. Anticipation is the key. I think a lot of it came down to how we stole the ball. We worked as a team and that helped us all play really well and score. We got a lot of girls open and passed the ball better,” Keira Benck said.

The Jags may have had some sloppy shots to begin the game, but give them credit for hustling to the boards as Brianna Petrowiak hustled to get her own rebound, turning around, kicking it out to Mattson on the right side to give the Jags a 12-8 lead with 10:10 left of the first period. Trailing out of the gate, the Jags would respond with a 20-3 run with the help of its defense. McKenna Benck would snag her second steal of the game with 6:53 left of the opening frame and off to the races she went for the easy layup extending the Jags lead 20-8. McKenna Benck would finish the game with a team high eight steals.

One good quality to have in a teammate is the ability of being unselfish. That is the word Jags coach Pytleski would describe Zaharia as she had a couple good looks at the basket, but chose to dish it out to her teammates instead. With 2:47 left of the first period, Zaharia bounced a pass inside the paint to Keira Benck for the step-back bucket leading 22-14. The Jags took a 27-16 lead into the locker room as they were able to hold the Blackhawks two top scorers Corban Tatro and Katherine DeVlaeminck to nine points each in the first period and 21 overall. Eight seconds into the second half, McKenna Benck swished a wide-open three right in front of the Jags bench, then next possession Benck passes to Madisen Lewis for the bucket leading 32-16. Lewis finished with 10 points to go along with five rebounds and five steals.

In the previous meeting, McKenna Benck led the way with 20 points, but in this one it was the younger sister Keira contributing with 14 as McKenna scored eight to go along with 10 rebounds and eight steals.

The Jags (11-6) have now won 26 consecutive games over the Blackhawks (3-16) dating back to 2004 and have swept the season series.

Up next the Jags will host conference rival Nicollet (9-13) Friday night. Earlier in the year the Jags went on the road and came away with a thrilling 79-78 comeback overtime win.

Fairmont 55, Redwood Valley 43 — Freshman guard Brylee Miller produced a game-best 23 points and pocketed four steals to help power Fairmont to a 12-point Big South Conference win over Redwood Valley on Tuesday night.

Fairmont held a narrow 31-28 edge at intermission before outscoring Redwood Valley by a 24-15 margin in the second half to pull away.

Miller connected on 9 of 14 field goals, including a 2-for-5 effort from 3-point distance, to top Fairmont’s 21-for-49 shooting effort from the field.

Nevaeh Rahm produced 10 points and grabbed six rebounds for Fairmont, Abby Cihoski scored seven points, while Olivia Ortega delivered six points, pulled down a game-high 11 rebounds and pocketed four steals.

Fairmont (10-6) travels to Luverne on Friday night for another conference clash.

Rubi Reyes scored 14 points to guide Fairmont to a 40-35 victory over Redwood Valley during B-squad action on Tuesday night.

Elayna Anderson contributed eight points to Fairmont’s winning ways.

North Union 62, Eagle Grove 18 — Naomi Jones poured in a game-best 20 points, including a pair of 3-pointers, to lead the Iowa Class 2A No. 10-ranked Warriors to a 44-point Top of Iowa Conference rout on Tuesday night in Armstrong.

Jones also pocketed three steals, while Libby Stevens netted 18 points and distributed three assists in the win.

Shelby Fraker scored 10 points and pocketed four steals for North Union, while Emily Meyer netted eight points, pulled down five boards and made three steals.

Olivia Von Bank pocketed a game-best seven steals, dished out four assists and grabbed five rebounds to round out the Warriors’ winning ways.

North Union (14-4) travels to Garner-Hayfield/Ventura on Friday night.

Alden-Conger/ Glenville-Emmons 41, Martin County West 35 — Macy Mattson tallied 17 points and teammate Alycia Newman hit three 3-pointers to fuel her 15-point outing to propel the Knights to a six-point Valley Conference victory over the Mavericks on Tuesday night in Alden.

Emily Anderson connected for three 3-pointers to pace her game-leading 18-point performance for the Mavericks.

Martin County West (7-10) plays host to Madelia on Friday night in Trimont.

Boys Basketball

Martin County West 61, Luverne 56 (OT) — Zach Anderson netted all 10 of the Mavericks’ points in the overtime to engineer a five-point nonconference triumph over the Cardinals on Tuesday night in Sherburn.

Anderson went 6-for-6 from the free throw line and added two 2-point baskets during the extra session to close out the game with 30 points. Anderson, who went 12 of 13 at the charity stripe on the game, completed a double-double by pulling down 10 rebounds.

Mitchell Weber reached a career scoring milestone by tossing in 12 points — all during the second half — to hit the 1,000 mark.

Hunter Schmidt connected on three 3-pointers to fuel his 11-point outing for the Mavericks, who made 8 of 15 shots from behind the 3-point arc and 15 of 17 at the free throw line.

Gavin DeBeer netted 23 points to top Luverne, while Carter Sehr tossed in 19 points.

Martin County West (12-8) travels to Alden on Thursday night.

Marshall 67, Fairmont 49 — Omar Abdi delivered a game-best 20 points and teammate Andrew Elton added 11 more to top the Tigers’ second-half comeback en route to an 18-point Big South Conference triumph over the Cardinals on Tuesday night in Marshall.

Fairmont built a 29-26 lead over Marshall by intermission, but the hometown Tigers roared to a 41-20 second-half advantage to claim the win.

Levi Pooley produced a team-best 18 points and grabbed seven rebounds to pace the Cardinals, while Sawyer Tordsen generated 16 points and eight rebounds.

David Maakestad scored eight points and distributed five assists.

The Cardinals made 21 of 49 field goals, including 4 of 15 from behind the 3-point line, on the night.

Fairmont (2-12) plays host to Luverne on Thursday night at Cardinal Gym.

Marshall downed Fairmont in B-squad action, 46-37, Tuesday night.

Trevor Maakestad netted 12 points to top the Cardinals, Nolan Schultze tossed in 10 more, while Oliver Tordsen finished with seven points.

Marshall topped Fairmont in C-squad action, 35-25, Tuesday night.

Logan Junkermeier tallied 14 points for the Cardinals, while Joe Long chipped in eight points.

Blue Earth Area 79, St. Peter 59 — Austin Skaden erupted for a game-best 24 points on the strength of four 3-pointers to steer the Bucs to a 20-point Big South Conference win over the Saints on Tuesday night in Blue Earth.

Max Loge knocked down three trifectas to pace an 11-point outing for BEA, while Will Bromeland contributed 10 points to the win.

Ashton Lloyd finished with eight points, while teammates Gage Barker, Abram Kokos and Jacob Grandgenett all chipped in six points.

Blue Earth Area (11-5) travels to Waseca on Friday.