LqPV 51, YME 49
For Yellow Medicine East tears would follow the sounding of the final buzzer Friday night as they lined the Redwood court to receive their Subsection 3AA runner-up trophy—having just ended their season with a 51-49 loss to Lac qui Parle Valley.
Slowly, though, the tears were wiped away as YME players strode to center court to have second place medals draped solemnly over their necks. And as tragedy melted to mere disappointment, smiles began to break forth and sweep across the team like an epidemic. And as cheers, time and retrospect soothed the pangs of defeat that epidemic reached it’s apogee as the YME girls basketball team tentatively lifted their runner-up trophy for an appreciative crowd to see.
The Sting had come a long way over the course of this season.
“They became a pretty good team and good friends and they work hard together,” said YME head coach Ryan Bremmer. “I think that’s part of what got us on this late season run; that togetherness and team play started to show a little more. We grew and got better and improved throughout the season. They never quit.”
Friday night’s game would be no exception as YME battled LqPV for every possession in a game where neither team would lead by more than six points.
The Sting would lead by two, 25-23, at the half, but the Eagles would quickly take the advantage in the beginning of the second half and maintain a slim lead for the remainder of the game.
“It seemed to me that, at almost anytime in the last ten minutes, if we could have got one or two baskets to go ahead we’d ultimately be alright,” said Bremmer. “Once we fell behind it seemed like (LqPV) always had an answer. I felt like if we could just get a couple of stops in a row defensively then we could come down and score and it would be enough to get us over the top. But it seemed like we had to struggle through the whole second half.”
Consequently, the Eagles would only need Micaela Erickson’s one-of-two free throws to fall with 10.5 seconds remaining to give LqPV a 51-47 advantage and effectively extinguish YME’s season.
Emily Baker’s put back at the buzzer would be rendered inconsequential and tears would follow.
Baker would contribute a double-double for the Sting from inside with 11 points and 13 rebounds. Senior Aimee Johnson would lead YME in scoring with 16 points in her final high school game.
YME (12-13) 25 24 — 49
LqPV (12-13) 23 28 — 51
YELLOW MEDICINE EAST— 19-49 FG (0-3 3-pt); 13-23 FT; 34 rebounds; 16 fouls
Scoring: Steph Larson 4, Aimee Johnson 16, Kylie Jans 5, Courtney Hinz 4, Lauren Trudel 2, Emily Baker 11, Angie Scheffler 7 3-point shots: none Rebound leaders: Baker 13 Assist leaders: Johnson 3 Steal leaders: Baker 2, Johnson 2, Scheffler 2
LAC QUI PARLE VALLEY— 18-48 FG (1-2 3-pt); 12-17 FT; 30 rebounds; 18 fouls
Scoring: Micaela Erickson 12, Amanda Broin 11, Jen Kack 11, Kiona DuFrane 5, Becky Grube 2, Kacey Struxness 10 3-point shots: Struxness 1 Rebound leaders: Erickson 12, Kack 7 Assist leaders: Struxness 5 Steal leaders: Erickson 4, Struxness 4
