Cardinal girls win sub section

The No. 1 seed Staples Motley Cardinal girls won the West Sub Section 6AA tournament Tuesday, downing No. 2 seed Benson 56-52 at Minnesota Morris on Tuesday night.

The Cardinal girls (24-5) will play Sauk Cent re, the East Sub Section winner for the Section 6 AA title and a state tournament berth on Friday night at St. Cloud State. The Game will be at 6:30 p.m. at SCSU’s Halenbeck Hall.

The Main Streeters (25-2) were a 45-32 winner Tuesday night over New London Spicer. Earlier they defeated Holdingford 78-42 after getting a bye in the first round of the west sub section.

First Round

Caitlin Robinson led all scorers with 17 points as top-seeded Staples Motley blew past No. 8 Breckenridge 71-33 in a West Section 6 AA quarterfinal game Thursday, March 4. The girls two nights later downed Long Prairie-Grey Eagle 65-53 at Morris.

The girls scored early and often against Breckenridge, jumping off to a 14-2 lead on the way to a 45-16 halftime advantage.

High flying Cardinal eighth grader Jaelin Beachy split the Breckenridge Cowgirl defense for this layup as the Cardinal girls cruised to an 71-33 first round Section 6AA victory. Fifteen Cardinal girls saw action in the win. (Staples World photo by Ken Klose) Also reaching double figures for the Cardinals was Ashley Lisson with 14 points.

“We came out of the gates very fast and did not let up,” Coach Arden Beachy said. “It was nice to see that intensity there right from the start.”

The girls put on a tight press and turned turnovers into points. “I thought our seniors really led by example and set the tone for the team.”

Semifinal

Saturday night, Caitlin Robinson scored a seasonhigh 24 points to lead Staples Motley to a 65-33 victory over Long Prairie-Grey Eagle in the sub section semi finals. Robinson hit six three’s to give the team a boost.

The Cardinals held the Thunder to 11 of 37 shooting from the field and used that hot shooting to jump out to a 32-14 halftime advantage.

It was also the Cardinal girls seventh straight win. They are now 23-5 for the season.

“We got off to a really fast start, which we’ve done for the last however many games now,” Beachy said. “Our defense again created turnovers and we capitalized on most of them.”

The Cardinals out-rebounded LP-GE 34-24 and forced 31 Thunder turnovers.

“We had some loss of focus at times, but still were able to beat them by the same margin as a month ago,” Beachy said.

“We earned the right to play another 36 minutes and we are looking forward to that challenge,” Beachy said prior to the Tuesday game.

Against LP-GE, Ashley Lisson had five assists and Nikki Pearson had four.

Girls results March 4 Breckenridge 16 17 - 33

Staples Motley 45 26 - 71

Breckenridge (33):Ariel Running Bear 3, Sierra Steckler 4, Alisha Goodijohn 1, Mary Wermerskirchen 4, Mackinzie Wilson 2, Amber Vold 6, Baylee Wilson 9, Jordan Reiff 2, Chloe Bergmann 2. FT 11-15 (73 percent),

Finish: 4-22.

Staples Motley (71): Nikki Pearson 7, Kelly Pearson 5, Caitlin Robinson 17, Jennifer Vasquez 7, Ashley Lisson 14, Abby Smith 8, Jasmine McGillvray 2, Jaelin Beachy 4, Bobbie Jo Mathe 4, Kyann Nyhus 3. FT 7-11 (64 percent). Three-point baskets: 6 (Robinson 3, N. Pearson, K. Pearson, Nyhus). Overall: 22-5.

March 6 L. Prairie-GE: 14 19 - 33

Staples Motley 32 33 - 65

Long Prairie-GE (33): Dana Kuelbs 2, Bethany Pelzer 2, Emily Jansen 2, Laura Geisenhof 1, Samantha Zastrow 6, Brittney Kingston 8, Jenna Langer 12. FG 11-41 (27 percent), FT 10-13 (77 percent). Three-point baskets: 1 (Langer ).

Staples Motley (65): Nikki Pearson 8, Kelly Pearson 4, Caitlin Robinson 24, Mikayla Wing 2, Brooke Wolhowe 2, Jennifer Vasquez 6, Ashley Lisson 5, Abby Smith 8, Holst 2, Jasmine Mc- Gillvray 2, Bobbie Jo Mathe 2. FG 22-45 (49 percent), FT 14-19 (74 percent), Three-point baskets: (Robinson 6, N. Pearson 1).