The Pine City girls basketball team is now just one win away from their first-ever trip to the State Tournament after defeating Royalton 53-43 on Tuesday night at St. John's University.
The Dragons were the #6 seed in this tournament and are on an incredible run that dates back to February 9th. That's the last time the Dragons lost a game and it was to their rivals, Rush City. Things are really going the right way for the Dragons who have won three playoff games.
The Dragons also avoided playing teams like Rush City who have caused problems for Pine City in recent years as the Tigers lost to Royalton in the quarterfinals.
Pine City jumped out to an early lead against Royalton and carried that through the entire game. The Dragons led 30-18 at halftime and never looked back. It was good defense great 3-point shooting that carried that Dragons. Pine City forced 18 turnovers and shot 46.7% from long range. Pine City's stingy defense held Royalton to just 29.8% shooting from the field.
Pine City was led in scoring by Ellie Hasz with 20 points, Lily Wilson had 13 and 9 assists, Alaina Steele scored 12 points and added 9 steals, Sophie Lahti had 4 points, Ashley Faur added 3 and Hanna Lorsung had 1.
Pine City will now move on to take on Albany in the section championship. The Huskies are the fourth seed and knocked off the #1 seeded Sauk Centre in the semifinals. In fact, this will be the first time in 5 years that the Mainstreeters will not be in the State Tournament. Albany is 17-10 on the year and have beaten teams like Foley and Mora, but lost to teams like St. Cloud Cathedral. It will be a battle on Friday night at St. Cloud State.
The game will be broadcast on 100.9 FM and wcmpradio.com. Tip-off is slated for 8:00 pm.
