The Pine City girls basketball team had a long week last week. Here’s a recap of the games from Head Coach Ted Hasz:
Dragons have great week. Go 3-0!
Pine City 85
Hinckley Finlayson 21
The Dragons had a good start to the week with a conference win over a scrappy Jaguar squad. Pine City got off to a great start by causing turnovers with their defense and scoring in transition. "Our defense set the tone once again." The Dragons scored 28 fast break points and 49 points off turnovers in the contest. It was 52-13 at the half and the Dragons cruised to victory in the second half. Ellie Hasz scored 19 points and grabbed 4 rebounds. Alaina Stele had 15 points, 3 assists and 5 steals. Sophie Lahti had 13 points, 8 rebounds and 3 assists. Ashley Faur had 11 points and 4 steals. Lily Wilson had 9 points, 6 assists and 5 steals. Kloey Lind had 9 points and 9 rebounds. Maddie Berglund had 5 points. Meredith Kolling had 2 points and 4 rebounds. Carissa Nascene had 2 points and Makenna Nelson had 2 assists and a steal. "It was a nice way to start the week. We had some really good play off the bench, with Kloey almost getting a double double."
Pine City 74
Mora 32
The Dragons continued to play well and came up with a big section win over the rival Mustangs. Pine City again had a big first half by outscoring Mora 52-19. "We have done a nice job this year of being ready to play. We have had the lead in all of our games at the half." Sophie Lahti, Lily Wilson and Ellie Hasz combined for 43 points in the first half by scoring 10, 12, and 21 points respectively in the half. The Dragons slowed the game down a bit in the second half but still out scored the Mustangs 22-13 in the second half. Hasz finished with 23 points and 5 rebounds. Wilson had 17 points, 7 assists and 7 steals. Lahti had 13 points and 5 rebounds. Meredith Kolling had 9 points and 3 rebounds. Ashley Faur had 6 points and 4 assists. Alaina Steele had 2 points, 5 assists and 5 rebounds. Kloey Lind had 2 points and 4 rebounds. Makenna Nelson had 3 rebounds, 1 assists and 1 steal. 8th grader Karly Jusczak scored her first varsity bucket.
Pine City 66
Mountain Iron Buhl 54
Breakdown Sports USA puts on events that showcase Minnesota's top teams. This event was called the Lake Superior Classic and was held at Duluth East. MIB has been in the class A state tournament the last 9 years and are currently ranked 3rd in class A. "We have been looking forward to this match up. It is always fun to see how you stack up against the best programs in the state. We have a lot of respect for what MIB has been able to accomplish over the last decade." It was a battle from the tip off. MIB jumped out to a 10-4 lead and then the Dragons went on a 8-0 run to take the lead 12-10. After MIB went ahead 20-16, the Dragons took charge of the first half outscoring the Rangers 18-9 to take a 34 -29 lead to the locker room at half time. Pine City continued to lead the whole second half. "Our ball handlers, Lily Wilson, Alaina Steele, Makenna Nelson, Sophie Lahti and Ellie Hasz handled their pressure defense with a lot of poise." "Every time MIB started to make a run we had kids step up and make big plays. "Ashley Faur had 4 big three pointers for us and Meredith Kolling had 2 huge threes at big times." "Meredith had one of the best games of her career as she owned the boards in the second half and played with a lot of poise." Sophie Lahti had some big hoops inside and led the Dragons with 15 points. Faur finished with 14 points and 4 steals. Kolling had 14 points and 10 rebounds. Lily Wilson had 12 points and 8 assists. Ellie Hasz had 11 points and 7 rebounds. Alaina Steele had 6 rebounds and three assists. "We are maturing as a team." "This group has played in a number of big games the last couple of seasons and are performing better and better with each opportunity." "The win is a nice confidence boost and will hopefully give us a lot of momentum as we head into the second half of the season. "
Photo Credit: Dragons Girls Basketball Weebly page
