One day after they lost to the last place team in the Big Nine, the Packers nearly knocked off the second place team in the Big Nine.

The Austin girls basketball team led for much of the second half, but it couldn’t close the deal as it lost 49-48 to Rochester John Marshall in Ove Berven Gym Tuesday.

The Rockets (17-7 overall, 14-2 Big Nine) took the lead for good when sophomore Jamie Ruden hit a five-foot jumper from the baseline with 2:26 left in the game.

Austin (7-15 overall, 5-12 Big Nine) had two turnovers and three missed field goals in the last three minutes. Austin’s Sydney Murphy had a go-ahead 3-point attempt blocked with five seconds left in the game.

“That’s a very good team and they’ve got a lot of kids who have played a lot of varsity basketball,” Austin head coach Todd Johnson said. “They had good size on the floor and it didn’t seem like we had a lot of seams. It’s a tough thing and you’ve got a big crowd yelling and screaming.”

The Packers led by as many as five in the second half and they took a 48-45 lead when Amber Hansen drilled a 3-pointer with 3:42 left in the game.

JM led 19-13 early in the game, but Austin scored nine straight points to take a 22-19 lead after Alex Hansen, who scored 10 points, hit a 3-pointer with 6:04 left in the first half.

Johnson was pleased with how his team bounced back after a tough loss against Faribault Monday night.

“Last night was seriously a kick to the stomach and nobody said anything no the way home. We let ourselves down as a team,” Johnson said. “I was so proud of how the girls came out tonight and we battled with them point for point.”

JM 29 20 — 49

Austin 28 20 — 48

Austin scoring: Shayley Vesel, 13; Alex Hansen, 10; Mer Gach, 9; Merideth Fritz, 9; Amber Hansen, 3; Kristine Snyder, 2; Ruth Koang, 2; free throws: 54 percent (7-for-13); rebounds: 27 (Gach, 6); turnovers: 14