Nice, but no smile Cardinal senior Nikki Pearson, who was not able to smile very much, held the team The season ended one game short of their goal for the Staples Motley Cardinal girls last Friday night.

Sauk Centre’s Main- street- ers girls are playing this week in the state Class AA girls tourn ament, thanks to their 59-44 win over the Cardinal girls Friday night at St. Cloud State’s Halenbeck Hall.

“We had a chance to play in state and we came up a little short,” Coach Arden Beachy said. “Other than that, we met our goals we had set in the beginning of the season.”

A slow start in the Section 6AA championship game cost the Cardinal girls the game, as Sauk Centre jumped off to a 16-0 lead before Caitlyn Robinson scored the first points for the Cardinals after six minutes were gone in the game.

Robinson was joined in the scoring column a short time later by Nikki Pearson, but it was a case of too little too late as the Mainstreeters claimed a 30-11 half time advantage.

Going for two Cardinal senior Nikki Pearson put up a shot for two of her 12 points as a Cardinal comeback fell short in the Section 6AA championship game Friday night at St. Cloud State Both Cardinal seniors and leading scorers finished the game with 12 points.

“We got down by too much too early,” Beachy said. “That’s something you cannot do at this time of year, the teams are just to good.”

The Cardinal girls outscored Sauk Centre 33-29 in the second half. They came as close as 12 points, 50-38, after Pearson’s three pointer with just over three minutes left in the game. A potential rally lost some of its steam a few seconds later when Robinson fouled out.

“I thought our girls battled back very hard in the second half. Our senior leadership was excellent this year.”

The Mainstreeters were the champs from the east half of Section 6AA, while Staples Motley, thanks to a 56-52 win March 9 over Benson, was the West Sub Section Champs.

In the Benson game, Pearson and Jasmine Mc- Gillvray each scored 14 points to lead the Cards to the win.

The Cards, who trailed 24-18 at the half, outscored the Benson girls 39-29 in the second half, scoring points after forcing 14 Benson turnovers.

The Mainstreeters, with a 26-2 record and ranked No. 2 in Class AA state ratings, were led by sophomore Kali Peschel. She scored 26 points and shot 10-for-10 from the line in the second half to seal the victory.

The 6-foot point guard also collected nine rebounds, two assists, three blocks and five steals, helping the Mainstreeters improve to 26-2.

Peschel accounted for Sauk Centre’s first four points as the Mainstreeters forced four turnovers and turned those into nine points as part of their 16-0 run.

The Cards, meanwhile, had a dismal 2-of-17 first half shooting performance.

The second half was a different story as SM shot 44.4 percent from the field and forced nine Sauk Centre turnovers.

The Cardinals did get 18 points from their bench. Jaelin Beachy finished with six points and Jasmine McGillvray had five.

Girls Results

March 12 Section 6AA championship Sauk Centre 30 29 - 59

Staples Motley 11 33 - 44

Sauk Centre (59): Megan Rieland 16, Maren Greenwaldt 9, Kali Peschel 26, Lindsey Rieland 1, Savana Weller 4, Rachel Gruber 2, Shelby Deters 1. FG 19-45 (42.2 percent), FT 17-22 (77 percent), Three-point baskets: 4-15 (26.7 percent).

Staples Motley (44): Nikki Pearson 12, Kelly Pearson 2, Caitlin Robinson 12, Mikayla Wing 1, Ashley Lisson 2, Abby Smith 2, Jasmine McGillvray 5, Jaelin Beachy 6, Kelsey Rice 2. FG 14-44 (32.8 percent), FT 11-17 (65 percent), Three-point baskets: 5-16 (31.3 percent).

Benson (53): Emma Peterson 6, Kayla Hampton 4, Emily Auch 17, Julia Ahrndt 14, Taylor Semler 5, Abby Fragodt 7. FG 20-47 (43 percent). FT 8-12 (67 percent). Three-point baskets: 5 (Arndt 4, Semler). Overall: Finish 21-7.

Staples Motley (57): Nikki Pearson 14, Caitlin Robinson 4, Jennifer Vasquez 2, Ashley Lisson 6, Abby Smith 7, Jasmine McGillvray 14, Jaelin Beachy 7, Bobbie Jo Mathe 3. FG 22-47 (47 percent). FT 5-10 (50 percent). Three-point baskets: 6 (McGillvray 4, Smith, Pearson).