SLICE & SCOOP WITH A SMILE ­— Blue Earth Area guard Katherine Armon (1) slices between Sibley East defenders Morgan Bednarek (left) and Bridget Biron (right) before scooping home a basket during action Friday night at the Blue Earth Area triad. (Photo by Greg Abel)

BLUE EARTH — The nimble backcourt duo of Katherine Armon and Lola Lundquist kept Blue Earth Area within striking distance — 30-23 — of Sibley East by intermission of Friday’s basketball clash. Post player Morgan Bednarek and her Wolverine teammates, however, had other holiday plans for their second consecutive game in Blue Earth.

The 5-foot-10 Bednarek, whose dominating interior presence triggered Sibley East’s pivotal second-half runs of 9-0 and 11-0, delivered a game-best double-double performance of 27 points and 19 rebounds to engineer a 65-43 triumph over Blue Earth Area.

“She (Bednarek) rolled her ankle during Thursday’s game, and had it both taped up and braced up for today’s game,” Wolverines’ head coach Ryan Kahle said in reference to his team’s 17-point win over Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/Martin Luther one day earlier in Blue Earth. “I can’t take credit for the tape job — one of the guys here at the (Blue Earth Area) high school did it for her during the pregame.”

Bednarek’s incredible individual boardwork helped pace Sibley East’s staggering 56-19 rebounding advantage on the game.

“We’re just incredibly undersized, but we just keep working hard and staying aggressive at both ends of the court,” said Blue Earth Area head coach Chris Voss.

After Lundquist drilled a pull-up trifecta for three of her 19 points on the game to stake the hometown Bucs to an 11-9 lead, Bednarek reeled off 11 of the Wolverines’ ensuing 21 points to cling to a seven-point edge by halftime.

Bednarek even displayed her long-distance shooting touch, following Armon’s putback basket with her only 3-pointer of the outing before teammate Lauren Bauer spotted Kate Arneson for a right-corner trifecta. Armon swooshed the net on back-to-back 3-pointers for six of her team-leading 22 points to inch Blue Earth Area within 22-19 by the 4-minute juncture.

Bednarek answered by earning a pair of free throws and cashed in a putback via an offensive rebound on a teammate’s missed charity toss to help offset Armon’s offensive prowess.

Armon floated home two more pull-up 15-foot runners in the paint during the final 2 minutes only to have Bauer and Bednarek evenly match her point production to keep the halftime deficit at 30-23.

Armon’s pull-up baseline leaner and Lundquist’s top-of-the-key 3-pointer to open the second half whittled the Bucs’ gap to 32-30 before Bednarek restored order for the Wolverines.

Bednarek hit a putback basket, Arneson nailed the third of her four treys on the game before Bednarek connected for a pair of leaners in the lane to widen Sibley East’s lead to 41-30.

Armon’s free throws and Lundquist’s gliding scoop off the glass later halted the Wolverines’ scoring stretch only momentarily as Bauer converted Bednarek’s assist into a cutter in traffic to trigger an 11-0 surge.

Arneson drained another 3, Bridget Biron hit a putback basket and Bednarek reeled off six more points in a row to create a 56-32 lead with 7 minutes remaining.

“It definitely hurts, but I plan to ice it down for a while before we go home later,” said Bednarek, who generated season-highs with the braced-up ankle.

Bednarek also pocketed three steals, Arneson finished with 12 points, Olivia Halquist contributed seven points and 11 boards, while Bauer supplied nine points and doled out a game-best five assists for Sibley East. Lundquist pulled down a team-leading seven rebounds for the Bucs and pocketed four team-high steals.

Blue Earth Area (1-7) travels to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Thursday, Jan. 4, for a non-league game, while Sibley East (6-3) hits the road to Janesville for Tuesday night’s clash with JWP.

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Sibley East 30-35–65

B.E. Area 23-20–43

B.E. AREA (43)

Lundquist 8-20 1-2 19, Klinkner 0-1 0-0 0, Ferguson 0-2 0-0 0, Gaydon 0-6 0-0 0, Armon 8-17 3-6 22, Schavey 0-2 0-0 0, Schrader 0-2 0-0 0, Allis 0-2 0-0 0, Vargas 1-2 0-0 2, Hall 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 17-55 4-8 43.

SIBLEY EAST (65)

Arneson 4-10 0-3 12, Halquist 3-6 0-1 7, Bednarek 10-20 6-6 27, Biron 1-4 2-2 4, Bauer 4-15 1-1 9, Kettner 3-4 0-0 6, Sell 0-3 0-0 0, Lundgren 0-1 0-0 0. Totals 25-63 9-13 65.

3-pointers: Blue Earth Area 5-32 (Armon 3, Lundquist 2); Sibley East 6-14 (Arneson 4, Bednarek and Halquist 1 each). Fouled out: None. Rebounds: Sibley East 56 (Bednarek 19, Halquist 11); B.E. Area 19 (Lundquist 7). Assists: Sibley East 9 (Bauer 5); B.E. Area 2. Steals: B.E. Area 11 (Lundquist 4); Sibley East 4 (Bednarek 3).

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Sibley East 63, GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther 46 (Thursday) — Kate Arneson netted a game-best 17 points and teammate Morgan Bednarek contributed 16 more to help the Wolverines claw out a 17-point victory over the Jaguars during the Blue Earth Area Triad on Thursday.

Bethany Petrowiak collected 16 points and grabbed eight rebounds to top the Jaguars’ effort, while Madisen Lewis supplied 10 points and six boards.

Olivia Mattson generated six points, five rebounds and five assists for the Jaguars (6-3), who are idle until playing host to Nicollet on Friday, Jan. 5, in Truman.