JACKSON -- Jackson County Central's girls' basketball team earned a measure of revenge when it mattered most.
The fourth-seeded Huskies forced 48 turnovers Saturday and cruised to a 78-43 victory over fifth-seeded St. James in the first round of the Section 3AA South tournament, avenging a 71-70 overtime loss to the Saints in early December.
Ashley Kruse had 18 points and five assists, and Brooke Burmeister added 12 points, eight rebounds and seven steals for JCC. Kate Rentschler and Brittney Kruse each scored eight points, and Leslie Handzus added five assists.
The Huskies will face top-seeded Fairmont on Tuesday in Windom, and they again will be without Mollie McClure. The junior center suffered a stress fracture in the Huskies' 70-48 loss to Worthington in their regular-season finale. JCC coach Stephanie Bot said McClure will miss two weeks.
St. James 20 23 -- 43
ADVERTISEMENT
JCC 40 38 -- 78
PA 62, Luverne 35
PIPESTONE -- Bree Woelber had 16 points and seven assists to lead second-seeded Pipestone Area to a first-round victory in the Section 3AA tournament.
Megan Vanderpoel added 10 points and seven rebounds, and Breanna Houselog had nine points and six rebounds for the Arrows, who led by six points at halftime.
Alyssa Stegenga scored 11 points to lead the seventh-seeded Cardinals, who scored just 12 points in the second half.
The Arrows (18-5) shot 46.1 percent (24 of 52) from the field and held Luverne to just 30.5 percent (11-for-36).
Pipestone Area will face third-seeded Martin County West on Tuesday in Windom.
Luverne 23 12 -- 35
ADVERTISEMENT
PA 29 33 -- 62
MCW 59, Windom 42
TRIMONT -- Alii Holt had 15 points and nine rebounds to lead Windom in a season-ending loss to Martin County West in the first round of the Section 3AA South tournament.
Chelsea Garrison added nine points, three assists and three steals for the Eagles, who scored just 19 points in the first half and trailed by 11 at halftime.
It was the second time this season that MCW defeated the Eagles. The Mavericks earned a 65-46 victory over visiting Windom (8-17) in early December.
Windom 19 23 -- 42
MCW 30 29 -- 59
Fairmont 57, T-M-B 25
ADVERTISEMENT
FAIRMONT -- Tracy-Milroy-Balaton's Shea Lanoue scored 21 points on 7-of-15 shooting, but the rest of the Panthers combined for just four points on 1-of-25 shooting from the field.
M'Hesi Haugen and Alyssa Becker each scored two points for T-M-B.
Lanoue added five rebounds, and Haugen had four assists.
Ashley Alleven had 18 points, 13 rebounds and five assists, and Stephanie Brolsma and Sam Waletich each scored 11 points to lead the Cardinals.
T-M-B 15 10 -- 25
Fairmont 28 29 -- 57
Boys
SSC 56, ML/B-O 42
ADVERTISEMENT
OKABENA -- Ben Scheevel scored 26 points -- 18 in the first half -- to lead Southwest Star Concept past Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin.
The senior guard added 14 rebounds and five steals for the Quasars, who handed the Wolverines their 12th consecutive loss.
Cody Adrian drilled a jumper to give the Wolverines a 20-18 lead with 5:40 remaining in the first half, but SSC responded with a 22-4 run, during which Scheevel scored 17 points, to take a 40-24 lead with 15:20 remaining in the game.
Steven Herrig scored 13 points, and Adrian added nine to lead ML/B-O.
William Cranston added 10 points, Jeremy Crocker had six rebounds and four blocks, and Cory Pelzel dished out four assists for SSC (16-6, 11-5), which will host Red Rock Conference champion Ellsworth tonight.
The Wolverines (4-19, 1-15) will host Adrian tonight.
ML/B-O 24 18 -- 42
SSC 35 21 -- 56
