GIRLS' BASKETALL ROUNDUP: Worthington girls handed first loss

FAIRMONT — Trailing 39-32 at halftime Tuesday night, the Fairmont Cardinals outscored Worthington 44-25 in the second half to claim a 76-64 victory over the Trojans in a key non-conference girls’ basketball game.

The loss is the first of the season for the Trojans (15-1), who are ranked second in the latest Class AAA state polls.

Fairmont (17-1), ranked 10th in Class AA, owned a 36-24 rebounding advantage and outscored Worthington by 19 points at the free-throw line (28-for-47 compared to 9-for-23).

Worthington led for most of the first half and the initial 10 minutes of the second half. Fairmont, though, held the Trojans scoreless for more than five minutes (from the 8:30 mark to the three-minute mark) and took a 51-50 lead with about 6:30 left before pulling away down the stretch for a 12-point victory.

Five players scored in double figures for Fairmont, including senior Sam Waletich and junior Alyssa Niss with 17 points apiece.

Sophomore Kirsten True scored 16 points for Fairmont, while senior Ashley Alleven and junior Ariel Berhow each added 10 points.

Junior Gabby Boever (five assists, three steals) led Worthington with a game-high 22 points. Senior Holli Aggen recorded 11 points and seven rebounds.

Sophomore Martha Alwal had a 10-point, 10-rebound double-double for the Trojans, and juniors Kaitlin Gerber and Kayla VanderVeen scored eight points each.

Worthington, which forced 27 turnovers and committed 19 miscues with the ball, plays another key non-league game Monday when it hosts Adrian in a Nobles County clash.

Fairmont hosts St. Peter Friday.

Worthington 39 25 — 64

Fairmont 32 44 — 76

WHS (3PT-2PT-FT-TP): Aggen 1-3-2-11, G. Boever 3-5-3-22, K. Gerber 0-3-2-8, Malmgren 0-1-0-2, Alwal 0-5-0-10, VanderVeen 1-2-1-8, Andersen 0-1-0-2, Juber 0-0-1-1. Totals: 5-20-9-64.

FHS (3PT-2PT-FT-TP): Waletich 0-4-9-17, Niss 1-3-8-17, Riley 0-0-2-2, True 1-5-3-16, Berhow 0-4-2-10, Brolsma 0-2-0-4, Alleven 0-3-4-10. Totals: 2-21-28-76.

Luverne 71, H-BC 50

HILLS — Katlyn Sawtelle popped in a game-best 19 points to go along with eight rebounds and eight steals Tuesday night, sparking the Luverne Cardinals to a non-conference victory over Hills-Beaver Creek.

Callie Sawtelle produced 17 points and nine rebounds for Luverne (7-10), while Alyssa Stegenga and Meghann Stanley scored 12 and 10 points, respectively.

Heather Kerner scored 15 points to pace H-BC (1-13), while Emily Kruger dropped in 10 points.

Luverne hosts Marshall Friday, while H-BC hosts Southwest Christian Thursday.

Luverne 43 28 — 71

H-BC 24 26 — 50

St. James 56, T-M-B 41

ST. JAMES — Mallory Shellum’s 24-point, 10-rebound double-double helped lead the St. James Saints to a non-conference victory over Tracy-Milroy Balaton Tuesday night.

Rachelle Eckmann (10 points) and Briana Brandts (11 rebounds) were among the other players to contribute for the Saints (5-11).

Shea Lanoue paced T-M-B (1-18) with 13 points and eight rebounds, while Michelle Lenertz had 10 points and seven boards.

Anna Snyder dished out seven assists for the Panthers, who play at Canby Thursday.

T-M-B 16 25 — 41

St. James 22 34 — 56

RV 63, Marshall 34

MARSHALL — Kelsey Guetter upped her career point total to 987 with a game-high 16 points Tuesday night, leading the Redwood Valley Cardinals to a Southwest Conference victory over Marshall.

Jessica Fischer and Laura Houghton provided 12 and 10 points, respectively, for RV (9-7, 4-5), which plays at Jackson County Central Thursday and Windom Friday.

Dani Beekman led Marshall with 12 points.

Redwood 29 34 — 63

Marshall 12 22 — 34

JCC 64, BEA 32

JACKSON — Jumping out to an early lead and a 41-14 advantage at halftime, Jackson County Central doubled up on Blue Earth Area in a non-conference game.

Ashley Kruse led the Huskies (16-4) with 14 points, while Leslie Handzus added 13 points and six assists.

Brooke Burmeister notched 11 points, seven rebounds and four steals, while Whitney Burmeister added 11 points.

Courtney Kruse had six rebounds for JCC, which will host Redwood Valley Thursday.

BEA was led by Morgan Dickman and Ashley Olson with seven points each.

BEA 14 18 — 32

JCC 41 23 — 64

Minneota 57, Edgerton 43

MINNEOTA — Kelsey Wolthuizen had 11 points and 14 rebounds, and Alyson Drooger had nine points and 11 rebounds to lead Edgerton in a non-conference loss to Minneota.

Emily Sluis added 10 points, and Katie Hadler had 11 rebounds and seven assists for Edgerton, which trailed by six points at halftime.

The Flying Dutchmen (9-7) will travel to face Westbrook-Walnut Grove on Thursday.

Edgerton 24 19 — 43

Minneota 30 27 — 57

Iowa

G-LR 67, MOC-FV 58

GEORGE, Iowa — Patrice Peters scored nine of her game-high 17 points in the fourth quarter to lead George-Little Rock to a key Siouxland Conference victory over MOC-Floyd Valley.

The senior point guard also added seven rebounds for G-LR, which trailed 36-31 at halftime and 51-49 after the third quarter.

Rachel Kruse scored 16 points — all in the first half — and added six rebounds. Abbie Voss scored 12 points, and Shelby Nagel added 10 points for G-LR (16-3), which is ranked No. 13 in Iowa’s Class 1A rankings and tied for second place in the conference.

MOC-FV 13 23 15 7 — 58

G-LR 13 18 18 18 —67

CC-E 55, H-LP 38

EVERLY, Iowa — Outscoring Harris-Lake Park 27-14 in the second half, the Clay Central-Everly Mavericks pulled away and earned a Cornbelt Conference victory Tuesday night.

Anna Brandt led H-LP with 16 points and five assists, while Jena Peters (six rebounds) and Deni Peters contributed eight and seven points, respectively.

H-LP (5-12, 3-8) hosts Storm Lake St. Mary’s Thursday.

H-LP 10 14 7 7 — 38

CC-E 20 8 14 13 — 55

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