PREP GIRLS BASKETBALL: Panthers get tripped up in second half against Pipestone
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MARHSALL - It was a tale of two halves for the Tracy-Milroy-Balaton girls basketball team against Pipestone Area on Saturday. The Panthers trailed by just four after a tight first half, but a pair of double-digit runs by the Arrows was enough separation in the second half as Pipestone Area took down TMB 68-50 on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.
TMB coach Derek Ashbaugh said they had moments in the first half where they played well but felt in the second half they got out of rhythm and credited Pipestone for forcing the defensive pressure throughout the game.
"We talked to them at halftime and we were only down four and we didn't really think we had played that good. We had spurts where we played really well and were able to limit the deficit there," Ashbaugh said. "The second half we were out of rhythm and credit to Pipestone, they forced a ton of our turnovers; the first half we had trouble with the full-court pressure, the second half it was a lot more of the half-court, just sometimes not being on the same page. It was a sloppy game for us and again, credit Pipestone for pressuring us into that, they do a wonderful job with it. We had moments where we looked pretty good and moments where we didn't look good at all; it's been about consistency with this team. If they're consistent, they can play with a lot of teams, we unfortunately just have periods where we're not very consistent."
The Arrows were able to get out to a hot start, hitting back-to-back 3-pointers before taking a 14-6 lead in the game's opening minutes. The Panthers would slowly chip away at the deficit, cutting it to five on a Jadyn Lessman layup with 8:37 left, but Pipestone answered right back with a small run to make it 24-15. A 3-pointer from Brooke Christian put TMB back within four at 24-20, and the two teams would trade points the remainder of the half before another Panther 3-pointer from Cassidy Smith made it a four-point game again heading into the locker rooms.
The Panthers would continue to keep things close in the beginning stages of the second half, getting to within three with under 15 minutes to play, but Pipestone Area answered with a run to push its lead to double digits at 42-31 with 12:14 to go. TMB got the deficit down again to single digits on a Margaret Dolan layup, but another big run by the Arrows - this time a 13-3 spurt - quickly increased Pipestone Area's advantage to 19 at 59-40 with 6:19 remaining.
The Panthers continued to battle over the next couple of minutes, getting the deficit to 15 on a 3-pointer from Catherine Wendland, but TMB couldn't get any closer the rest of the way as Pipestone Area took home the 68-50 victory.
Smith and Samantha Edwards led the way for the Panthers with nine points each while Wendland and Dolan each added eight and Lessman had seven. Dolan, Edwards and Wendland all led in rebounds with five each while Smith led in assists with four.
TMB will face Redwood Valley on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.
Pipestone Area 68, TMB 50
Pipestone 31 37 - 68
TMB 27 23 - 50
SCORING: TMB (Smith 3-6, 2-5 9; Edwards 3-6, 3-4 9; Wendland 3-3, 0-0 8; Dolan 3-4, 2-5 8; Lessman 3-9, 1-2 7; Christian 1-2, 2-4 5; Mayer 1-6, 2-3 4).
REBOUNDS: TMB 25 (Wendland, Edwards, Dolan 5; Mayer 3).
ASSISTS: TMB 13 (Smith 4; Lessman 3).
STEALS: TMB 3 (Langerock, Peterson, Smith 1).
BLOCKS: TMB 4 (Edwards 2; Smith, Lessman 1).