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Girls basketball roundup: Ashby sneaks past Hillcrest
Published 1:11am Wednesday, January 6, 2010ASHBY — After trailing for most of the second half, the Ashby girls basketball team pulled through late and captured a hard-fought 58-54 Little Eight Conference victory over Hillcrest Tuesday night.
The Arrows (4-2, 3-1 LEC) trailed 29-26 at the break and fell behind by as many as six points with 7 minutes, 30 seconds remaining in the game.
“Ashby out-played us in the final minutes and took the lead, and the win,” Hillcrest coach Charlie Brue said. “Amanda Johnson played tough in the closing minutes and Haley Ness hit two big three-point shots, the first gave Ashby the lead at 47-46 with four minutes left.”
Johnson finished with a game-high 22 points and 12 rebounds while Ness added 18 points, four steals and three assists.
Rhoda Christenson and Andrea Christenson registered 12 and 11 points, respectively to lead Hillcrest (3-4, 0-3). Taylor Brue tallied nine points and Chantel Meech chipped in with eight.
Underwood 35, Brandon-Evansville 33
UNDERWOOD — Neither team gained much traction on the offensive end as the Rockets held off the Chargers for a Little Eight Conference victory.
“The game was within two or three points most of the second half,” Underwood coach Brian Hovland said. “It was a see-saw battle.”
Underwood grabbed a 35-31 lead with 10 seconds remaining before Brandon-Evansville pulled within two points seconds later. The Rockets re-gained possession and held onto the ball until the final buzzer.
Ellen Ferry scored 14 points for the Rockets (6-2 overall , 3-1 LEC) as leading-scorer Aann Bjorklund was held to a season-low seven points.
Megan Strese led B-E (5-3, 1-2) with 11 points.
Battle Lake 59, Rothsay 36
ROTHSAY — Carley Nelson notched 14 of her game-high 18 points in the first half as the Battlers picked up a Little Eight Conference victory.
Lindsay Nelson added 17 points, four rebounds and three steals as Battle Lake (3-4 overall, 1-1 LEC) connected on 40 percent of its shots from the field.
Lauren Zimmerman and Hillary Johnson each scored 12 points for the Tigers (1-6, 0-4).
Perham 76, Barnesville 51
BARNESVILLE— The Yellowjackets were once again led by the sister scoring duo of Katrina and Elisa Moenkedick in their Heart O’Lakes Conference win over the Trojans on Tuesday night.
Katrina finished with 22 points and six rebounds while Elisa netted 20 points and grabbed 11 boards.
Perham (8-1) shot 45 percent from the field and 82 percent from the line.
“We came out from the start with great intensity and got our transition game working to help us jump on them early,” Perham coach John Gullingsrid said.
West Central 71, Breckenridge 37
BRECKENRIDGE — Liza Torgerson exploded for 30 points to lead the Knights to a Heart O’Lakes Conference victory.
Torgerson — who converted 11 field goals — also picked up 10 steals and five rebounds.
