Blossoms begin title defense with win

Published 12:00 am Sunday, December 5, 1999

The Blooming Prairie Blossoms started the defense of their Gopher Conference title with a 51-41 win over the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers in Waterville Friday night.

Sunday, December 05, 1999

The Blooming Prairie Blossoms started the defense of their Gopher Conference title with a 51-41 win over the Waterville-Elysian-Morristown Buccaneers in Waterville Friday night.

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A couple of long distance bombs in the third quarter by Missy Avery and Kari Olson got the Blossoms rolling on a poor shooting night.

The Blossoms were 19-of-50 from the field.

BP went up 9-4 after one quarter, 18-14 at the half and 33-20 after three.

BP held on down the stretch with six-for-six shooting at the free throw line. Before that point, they were 4-of-15 from the stripe.

Ranelle Goette was the leading scorer with 16 points, she also had four blocks in the game. Olson and Jana Peterson each put in eight. Avery was the leading rebounder with seven boards, she and Olson also had four assists.

Andrea Banton pulled down six boards helping the Blossoms to a 29-20 edge in rebounds.

Blooming Prairie (2-0, 1-0) is at Stewartville on Tuesday.

Mabel-Canton 60, Lyle/Pacelli 52

L/P got off to a slow start and never recovered on its trip to Mabel. L/P fell behind 18-4 in the first quarter and had to fight back the rest of the way. They closed to within seven in the fourth quarter, but got no closer.

"We took the early lead and held on from there," said Mabel-Canton coach Greg Dietel, whose team triumphed in its initial outing of the year.

At the half, the score was 37-24; it was 49-38 at three quarters.

Dietel’s team was led by the one-two senior duo of Ellie Horihan and Abby Geving. They each pumped in 16. Sophomore Molly Horihan was the third Cougar in double figures with 10.

Soft shooting centers Jenny Heiny and Laura Nelson led L/P in scoring. Heiny put in 11 and Nelson 10.

L/P (0-2) looks to pick up its first win of the year on Monday when it hosts Glenville-Emmons in Lyle.

Spring Grove 49, Southland 47

The Rebels came up just short in their loss to the Lions in Spring Grove Friday night.

"The girls played well in the fourth quart quarter when we rallied from 10 points down," Southland coach Earl Orvik said. "We made it really exciting. We stole the ball at the end, but then the buzzer sounded."

Southland went out in front 12-10 after eight minutes of play. The Lions then scored 14 points in each of the next two quarters, while Southland scored eight in the second and 10 in the third to give the home team a 38-30 advantage.

Sophomore Sarah Thome was the leading scorer for the Rebels with 11 points. Betsy Matheis and Erin Orvik each scored 10 points. Orvik hit a three as did Holly Johnson.

Southland (1-1) has a formidable challenge Tuesday when the travel to Lanesboro, an early season favorite to win the Southeast Conference East Division.

Houston 43, LeRoy-Ostrander 26

The Cardinals had a great game on the boards, out-rebounding the Cougars, 47-24, but had a horrendous shooting night, eight-for-68, in Friday’s loss.

Nina Bucknell grabbed 11 boards, but scored only one point. Annie Winfield was the leading scorer for the Cardinals with seven. Holly Johnson hit a three for her only three points.

Lindsay Halvorsen led the Cougars with 13 points.

The Cardinals (0-2) were in action again Saturday night when they hosted Riceville, Iowa.