The Murray County Central girls' basketball team held onto first place in the Red Rock Conference Friday night with a hard-fought, 60-58 victory against Southwest Christian.
The Rebels, who lost to R-T-R, 57-53, the previous night, remain unbeaten (14-0) in league action, and will travel to Fulda (13-1) on Thursday for a key battle between the top two teams in the conference. MCC topped Fulda, 55-44, Dec. 13 in Slayton.
In the victory over SWC, Laura Beers scored her team's final six points, helping push MCC (14-0, 17-3) over the top.
Rachel Christiansen added a game-high 18 points and Emily Bose followed with 10 points of her own for the Rebels.
MCC helped itself out at the foul line in the second half, hitting 11-of-18 attempts.
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Kelsey Van Dyke paced Southwest Christian (9-5, 14-6) with 18 points and 10 rebounds. Jenna Snyder and Katie Vis each added 11 points.
SWC visits H-BC Thursday, while MCC is at Tracy-Milroy-Balaton on Tuesday.
MCC 31 29 -- 60
SWC 37 21 -- 58
SSC 59, W-WG 37
WESTBROOK -- Southwest Star Concept outscored Westbrook-Walnut Grove 35-17 in the second half to break open a four-point halftime lead and claim a road victory.
The Quasars jumped out to a quick 14-3 lead before W-WG rallied back to cut the margin to four points at the intermission.
SSC then gradually pulled away in the second half to earn the 22-point victory.
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Linnea Henkels (seven rebounds, four steals) and Brooke DeWall (14 rebounds) scored 17 and 15 points, respectively, to lead SSC (11-3, 13-6).
Adri Rasche added 11 points and five boards, Shannon Hussong charted five assists and four steals, and Whitney Place had four assists and a pair of shot blocks for the Quasars, who host Blue Earth Area on Monday.
W-WG (1-13, 3-15) was led by Audra Schmidt's eight points. Malori Paplow ripped down 11 rebounds for the Chargers, who visit Lake Benton on Tuesday.
SSC 24 35 -- 59
W-WG 20 17 -- 37
ML-B-O 61, SV-RL-B 56
BUTTERFIELD -- Mountain Lake-Butterfield-Odin picked up a victory over Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster, avenging two earlier losses to the Raiders.
Both teams are now 5-9 in the conference, and 9-11 overall.
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ML-B-O shot 19-of-26 from the foul line compared to 9-for-22 by SV-RL-B, and the Wolverines were clutch down the stretch to post the victory.
Lacey Janzen scored 16 points to lead the Wolverines, while Brittany Harder added 12 points.
Molly Eichenberger knotched a game-best 19 points to go with eight rebounds for the Raiders. Kelly Weinandt hauled in 10 boards.
Amanda Evans chalked up 15 points, nine rebounds and two shot blocks, and Sarah Schmitz registered eight boards, seven points and three steals, while Kelli Correll (five assists) and Rachel Wilson each scored six points for SV-RL-B.
The Raiders host W-WG on Thursday, while the Wolverines go to Truman on Tuesday.
SV-RL-B 25 31 -- 56
ML-B-O 25 36 -- 61
Edgerton 76, H-BC 72
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EDGERTON -- Amy Kallemeyn had the hot hand for the Edgerton Flying Dutchmen, hitting for 30 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, leading her team to a victory over the Hills-Beaver Creek Patriots.
Heather Van Kley also turned in a big game for the Dutchmen (7-7, 8-11), posting 16 points and 14 boards. Katie Hadler scored 13 points, while Kelly Vanderstoep handed out nine assists to help Edgerton.
H-BC (2-12, 4-17) put four players into double figures, led by Chelsi Fink's 25-point night.
Stacy Bush knocked down 20 points, followed by 11 points apiece from Kerri Fransman and Brittany Helgeson for the Patriots.
Edgerton travels to Ellsworth on Monday, while H-BC goes to Lake Benton the same night.
H-BC 25 47 -- 72
Edgerton 33 43 -- 76
Luverne 67, Windom 44
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LUVERNE -- Samantha Gacke rolled up 27 points and 10 boards, as the Luverne Cardinals cruised to victory over the Windom Eagles in Southwest Conference action.
Alyssa Klein knocked down 14 points for Luverne, which moves its record to 11-9 (5-6 conference) on the season.
Christy Nepp had 16 points for the Eagles (1-9, 3-17).
Windom 21 23 -- 44
Luverne 44 23 -- 67
JCC 57,
Redwood Valley 48
JACKSON -- The Jackson County Central Huskies trailed at the half by two points before outscoring Redwood Valley 32-21 in the second half, coming away with a Southwest Conference victory over the Cardinals.
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The Huskies (2-9, 6-16) used a balanced attack, putting four players into double figures, including Anna Meneely (12), Traci Fransen (11), Brooke Burmeister (11), and Angie Oelke (10).
Burmeister and Oelke also found their way to the glass, collecting 14 and 12 rebounds, respectively.
Redwood Valley (3-8, 6-15) was led by Katie Smith's 23 points, while Jordan Olerud chipped in with 13.
JCC hosts Martin County West on Tuesday.
RV 27 21 -- 48
JCC 25 32 -- 57
Sioux Center 64, S-O 33
SIBLEY, Iowa -- Sioux Center picked up a Siouxland Conference victory against Sibley-Ocheyedan.
Ronda Hulstein (13), Kaitlin Beaver (12) and Rylen Hulstein (12) led a balanced Sioux Center scoring attack.
Maggie Swenson scored 14 points to lead the Generals (6-12, 6-16).
No linescore was available.
