SHOT SWATTING ­— Martin County West’s Emily Anderson (35) rejects a field goal attempt by St. James Area post player Madi Whitney during nonconference basketball action Monday night in St. James. Martin County West teammates Courtney Anderson (far left) and Ella Carlson (far right), along with St. James Area’s Laney Bowers watch the defensive play. (Photo by Greg Abel)

ST. JAMES — The Martin County West Mavericks girls basketball team picked up a 67-57 nonconference win over the St. James Area Saints on the road Monday night.

Junior forward Emily Anderson dropped 34 points, including 20 in the second half, to help MCW earn the come-from-behind win.

The Mavericks took a 42-35 lead with 11:36 remaining in the second half and put their foot on the gas to close out the contest.

Senior Ella Carlson made timely shots down the stretch and inbounded the ball with composure against the Saints’ press to hold the lead.

Ella Carlson finished with 10 points to go with seven rebounds in the victory.

Mavericks’ head coach Cliff Anderson was beaming after the game.

“Ella’s a senior and we need her to step up and she did tonight. You know she has a lot of responsibilities whether she is throwing the ball in or hitting the elbow shots and she was aggressive going to the rim a couple times so that really helps,” Cliff Anderson said.

The Mavericks trailed the Saints 33-29 at the half. A slow start offensively from the Mavericks saw them behind 9-0 in the first few minutes of play.

Saints’ guard Journey Swanson started the game red hot from deep with 18 first-half points, all coming from beyond the arc.

Swanson would finish the game with 23 points on solid 8 of 16 shooting splits.

Junior post player Madelyn Malmgren of the Saints controlled the glass. She finished with 10 boards to go with her six points.

The Mavericks took over the game in the second half when freshman Maddie Carlson came off the bench looking aggressive. She put up eight second-half points on perfect shooting splits and nabbed a couple of steals.

Emily Anderson did more than score though as the junior standout finished with 12 boards and four blocked shots, locking down the interior of the Mavericks’ defense.

Another big contributor in the win for the Mavericks was junior guard Avery Sanders. Sanders also shot efficiently, going 4 of 7 and ending the night with eight points.

Following the loss, St. James Area (5-20) will look to get a win in its regular-season finale at 7:15 p.m. Thursday night in Worthington.

Martin County West (18-6), who earned the No. 2 seed in Section 2A, South Sub-Section, opens the playoffs by hosting No. 7-seeded United South Central at 7 p.m. Monday, Feb. 26, in Sherburn.

MCW   29-38–67

STJ      33-24–57

MCW (67)

E. Anderson 14-23 2-3 34, E. Carlson 5-12 0-4 10, M. Carlson 4-5 1-2 9, Sanders 4-7 0-0 8, Schettler 2-2 0-2 4, C. Anderson 1-7 0-0 2.

ST. JAMES (57)

Jo. Swanson 8-16 0-0 23, Ja. Swanson 3-10 0-0 8, Whitney 3-7 0-0 7, M. Malmgren 2-11 2-4 6, Bowers 2-8 0-0 6, Watson 2-3 0-2 4, R. Malmgren 0-3 3-4 3, Romsdahl 0-3 0-0 0, Aguilar 0-1 0-0 0, Haler 0-1 0-0 0.

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Blue Earth Area 56, Medford 39 — Lola Lundquist erupted for a game-best 26 points to power the Bucs to a 17-point non-league victory over the Tigers on Monday night.

Lundquist also doled out five assists and grabbed five rebound, while teammate Erika Gaydon contributed nine points and five boards to the win.

Ashlyn Klinkner tallied seven points and hauled in 10 rebounds for BEA, while Madelyn Ferguson generated seven points and eight boards.

Blue Earth Area travels to Worthington tonight.

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Boys Basketball

Blue Earth Area 78, Medford 34 — Sullivan Dahlberg and Max Loge combined for 27 points to help the Bucs cage the Tigers by 44 during nonconference action Monday night in Medford.

Blue Earth Area erupted for 52 first-half points to create running time during the final 9 minutes of regulation.

Dahlberg connected on two trifectas to help pace his 14-point performance, while Loge knocked down three 3s en route to 13 points to go with three steals.

Omar Gomez also drained three treys to fuel his 10-point effort for the Bucs, while Gage Barker and Sterling Madison each supplied seven points. Barker also distributed four assists.

Taylor Davids contributed six points and doled out five assists for BEA, Jacob Grandgenett supplied six points and three assists, while Devin Haase tallied six points.

The Bucs made 16 of 29 shots from 2-point range and connected on 14 of 32 attempts from behind the 3-point arc.

Landon Seiler poured in a game-best 24 points to top Medford.

Blue Earth Area (9-10) plays host to Worthington tonight.

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New Ulm Cathedral 82, Martin County West 70 — Jevan Wilfahrt amassed a game-best 30 points to guide the Greyhounds to a 12-point nonconference victory over the Mavericks on Monday night in New Ulm.

Jacob Wilmes produced a double-double of 26 points and 10 rebounds to top the Mavericks, Kale Larson scored 18 points, while Hunter Schmidt chipped in 13 points.

Martin County West (4-21) plays host to St. Clair on Friday night in Trimont.