Photos by Samantha Davis: Yellow Medicine East seniors Alana Almich (back of hug) and Bayli Sneller (middle) hug their teammates one by one after subbing out for the final time in their prep basketball careers Saturday afternoon at Montevideo in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals. The Sting fell to the Wolverines 82-52, and finish their season 9-18 overall.

Story will be updated with quotes, stats and additional photos.

MONTEVIDEO — Although battling it out closely in the first half, the No. 7 Yellow Medicine East girls basketball team’s season came to an end Saturday afternoon following an 82-52 loss to second-seeded MACCRAY in the Section 3A North subsection quarterfinals. The Sting finish their season 9-18 overall.

The Sting gave the 2025 section champions and Class A state runners-up a run for their money throughout the first half, particularly with contagious 3-point shooting on both sides. The Wolverines, however, turned the dial up on defense which turned into points to pull away late in the half, and YME wasn’t able to fully recover from there.

Alana Almich had a stellar shooting performance from the perimeter, going 7 of 13 from deep. Her and Bayli Sneller made up for the Stings’ 10 total 3-pointers, as Sneller shot 3 of 6.

YME’s Sneller and Almich both had the hot-hand from the perimeter in the opening half, both making a few each.

The Sting got off to a 6-0 start to open the game with a 3-pointer from Sneller and Almich back-to-back, with YME also playing in a zone defense to begin.

MACCRAY senior Brielle Janssen, a basketball commit for the nationally Division II top-ranked Minnesota State Mankato squad, didn’t take long to find her rhythm and powered the Wolverines to their 14-point halftime lead.

The two teams went on for a competitive 9-9 start to the game, and YME took to a 12-11 edge with another 3-pointer from Almich from the right wing, where she had just hit one prior.

Sneller then grabbed a steal for an open fastbreak layup to build the Stings’ lead to 14-11 and forced MACCRAY to call a timeout.

Janssen began to heat up from there following the reset, and made a string of baskets to give the Wolverines a 5-point lead, 21-16. But, Sneller quickly brought the Sting back within a possession after drilling in a 3 of her own with 6:30 to go in the opening half.

MACCRAY and YME exchanged a few 3-pointers over the course of a few posessions, as the Sting stayed within reach and continued to challenge the Wolverines.

But, MACCRAY began to put a hard emphasis on its defense to fluster YME in return, ultimately pulling away behind forced turnovers and continuing to knock down shots.

The Wolverines made a habit to trap YME at the wings following the Stings’ first pass upong crossing half court, which allowed MACCRAY to begin taking control the rest of the way.

Janssen ended the half with back-to-back baskets for a MACCRAY 39-25 lead heading into the break.

Almich kept her hot hand going throughout the second half, but the Wolverines didn’t let up on their effort on either ends of the court to continue pulling away to finish off the night.

YME head coach Lucas Christoffer subbed out his seniors in the final minute, as they hugged each of their teammates down the bench emotionally, with both smiles and tears present.

The Sting reached the quarterfinals after defeating No. 10 Lac qui Parle Valley in the section play-in 68-56 on Thursday.

YME graduates a strong group of seniors in Sneller, Almich and Abby Gullickson.