The Pine City girls basketball team host St. Francis on Friday night.
The Dragons came into the night looking for their 6th straight win. It got off to a good start for the Dragons taking the lead early. But it soon turned in favor of the Saints, trailing 4-2 they would go on a 9-0 run and had momentum on their side. The next few minutes after the run, both teams struggled to find the basket. Although both teams would score here and there it wasn't at the pace either team started the game with. But credit deserves to be given to the defenses. The defenders were making plays when they needed to and boxing out to get the ball back for the offense. The Dragons trailed much of the rest of the half but, late in the half the scoring heated up once again. Pine City had taken a slim two point. With under 5 seconds to go they got the ball into Karly Jusczak's hands who went on to hit a buzzer beater 3 before half, which swung momentum in their favor.
Less than 2 minutes into the 2nd half history was made. Karly Jusczak grabbed her 1,000th rebound! Something no one in Pine City history has ever done! But there was still business to take care of, and after enjoying the moment of recognition she was back on the court. It was all Dragons in the 2nd half, the offense was electric and the defense was stout. It was a complete game from them the younger players on the squad stepped up and looked like veterans and showed superb growth since the start of the season. Pine City went on to win 77-57.
Pine City moves to 12-4 on the season and will play in Ogilvie on Tuesday. The Lions are currently a top 10 team in Class A and the winner will stand atop the conference alone with an unbeaten record. A big game for both teams!
Scoring:
Karly Jusczak 29
Summer Thieman 23
Brooke Boland 12
Piper Mettling 6
Mallory Clepper 5
Vivian Lahti 2
Congrats to Karly Jusczak on your Pine City record!
