Both Pine City basketball teams played in front of the home crowd on Friday night.
The girls played first against Chisago Lakes.
The Dragons got out to a sluggish start. Turnovers were a part of the reason, but the ball just wouldn't find the net. They traded the lead with the Wildcats plenty but found themselves down late in the 1st half. They grinded their way through and with 5 seconds left down by 2. Sophie Lahti would hit a buzzer beat from beyond the arc before half giving her team a 32-31 lead.
After half Pine City looked like a completely different team. They were creating turnovers, defense played tight and the offense found shots anywhere on the court. Needless to say the Lahti buzzer beater before half sparked some momentum for the Dragons. They were able to score 52 points in the 2nd half and hold Chisago Lakes to only 14!
The win pushes them to an 18-6 record on the season. They will host Cloquet tonight and wrap up the regular season on Thursday at home against Milaca.
Scoring
Pine City
Kloey Lind 26
Karly Jusczak 21
Sophie Lahti 20
Ella Sell 8
Summer Thieman 7
Piper Mettling 2
Game two of the double header saw the Dragon boys team take on section opponent Spectrum.
If you closed your eye to blink in this game you may have missed about 10 points being score. The pace in this game was phenomenal and it was kept throughout the entire first half. More importantly the Dragons got out to an early lead and never looked back. They nearly built up a 20 point lead before the half. Although Spectrum was able to get a few points back Pine City lead at half 39-24.
Both teams again came out firing in the 2nd half, and the Sting looked to gain momentum. They closed the Pine City lead down to 10, but that didn't last long before the Dragons pushed it back to nearly 20. That's the way much of the 2nd half played out Spectrum closed within 10 before Pine City widened their lead. Eventually, the Dragons had the maintained the lead at about 15 points and carried that through the final buzzer and came out victorious 78-61.
With the win the Dragons are now 13-10 on the year and 4-2 in section play. They will ready for their rivalry game on Tuesday against Mora.
Scoring
Pine City
Luke Wilson 27
Lamont Sydney 21
Riley Cummings 11
Isaiah Hasz 9
Charlie Ausmus 8
Nick Plasek 2
