The Pine City girls basketball team hosted Braham on Tuesday night.
Both teams came into the game putting undefeated Great River Conference records on the line. This being a key game in deciding who will take the conference crown at the end of the season.
The first half was fairly even between both squads, each kept up with the pace and the defenses played physical. The speed of Braham helped them find open lanes to drive to the basket, and if they missed the initial shot they were often times able to grab a rebound for a second chance shot. But the Dragons did have the slight advantage due to grabbing 13 steals in the first half. That helped them create fast break opportunities which they capitalized on. Pine City would go into the half up 33-19.
The Dragons seemed to find their groove in the 2nd half, after struggling to hit the shots outside the perimeter in the first, they started to fall in the second. And even though the Dragons began to build on their lead, it never felt like Braham was out of it. The Bombers continued to play hard and fight. Their speed once again helped them create open lanes and the passing helped them convert plenty of shots. They even had Pine City in foul trouble early, which sent them to the free throw line. Braham was able to hit their charity shots, but the Dragons were able to stay out of that trouble down the stretch. Pine City also did a good job of taking time off the clock in their offensive possessions. A fun hard fought game ended with the Dragons coming out on top 66-42.
With the win Pine City improves to 9-5 on the year and 6-0 in the conference, and now sit on top alone. They will have another conference battle on Thursday, as they welcome in Rush City.
For Braham this is only their second loss on the season, putting them at 13-2 and 6-1 in the conference. They will be on the road again on Thursday to play the Jaguars of Hinckley-Finlayson in a conference clash.
Scoring
Pine City
Ella Sell and Kloey Lind 17
Karly Jusczak 14
Sophie Lahti 11
Piper Mettling 5
Summer Thieman 2
Braham
Madison Davis 13
Julia Kuhnke 10
Morgan Rysdam 7
Emily Davis 6
Sunny Lily 4
Nickole Duvernay and Alex Rysdam 1