Photo by Paul Trende
The last five SEC-East girls basketball titles have been won by either Houston or Lanesboro. The Burros ended the Hurricanes’ four-year run last year, as the teams finished first and second in the division. The teams met up for their first meeting, and despite Lanesboro (3-0, 6-1) sporting a much better record than Houston (2-0, 2-6), the latter notched a good victory. Dale Moga’s group did so by denying the ball to Burro standout frosh point guard Jensyn Storhoff and double-teaming 6’0” stand-out center Kaci Ruen. Each player was limited. And doing so forced other Burros to make plays. Offensively, Houston ran its sets. The ‘Canes were able to get more players involved on the offensive end, which was critical. Lanesboro started the game up 7-1, but the end of the half was all Houston. The Burros were 1 of their last 17 shots. Hurricane senior Nicole Beckman hit three threes in the half, including two back-to-back. Houston ended on a 16-3 run to lead 28-16 at intermission. Lanesboro led 13-12 before the spurt. The Houston lead ballooned to 20 in the second half (40-20). Lanesboro made a couple lunges at getting back into it, closing to down 40-27, and 45-34 about midway through. But Houston replied each time, the latter instance with a quick 6-0 run to make it 51-34. In a battle of SEC undefeateds, Houston got a key win by a 57-40 final. Senior Sydney Torgerson (18 pts, 6-8 FTs, 9 rebs, 3 stls) led the way despite battling inside against Lanesboro’s size. N-Beckman (12 pts, 4-6 threes) and Lilly Carr (11 pts) helped. Houston played nine girls, getting points from eight. K-Ruen (17 pts, 7-14 FGs, 10 rebs), Jessie Schreiber (8 pts, 8 rebs, 5 asts), and Storhoff (7 pts, 6 rebs) led the Burros, which played only six girls in their main rotation. Lanesboro was 1 of 11 from deep, Houston 7 of 18 (39%). The Hurricanes ended Lanesboro’s six-game win streak. The Burros took both meetings last year, 57-52 and 54-47. Houston (3-0, 3-6), Lanesboro (3-1, 6-2), and Spring Grove (3-3, 5-4) top the SEC-East.
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