By Brenda Erdahl
The Maple Lake girls’ basketball team ended its season with a first-round loss in the Section 5A tournament, Thursday, Feb. 27 at Upsala.
No. 3 seed Upsala routed the No. 6 seed Irish 57-45 after a back-and-forth ball game that held some good minutes for Irish players.
Upsala relies heavily on the play of two of their top players, so Maple Lake came in with a plan to slow those players down and force others to shoulder the scoring load, Irish Head Coach Adam Ronnenberg said.
The Irish came out in a Triangle and Two defense trying to match up with Upsala’s top two guards, and it worked, to a degree. The game was tied 8-8 after the first six minutes, then Upsala went on a 12-0 run to take a 20-8 lead.
The teams traded baskets before the Irish finished the half on a 11-1 run, capped off by a left-handed layup by Aleigha Jenson at the halftime buzzer. The score was 27-25 in Upsala’s favor.
Foul trouble kept Irish captain Avery Lee off the floor for more minutes than usual in the second half and Upsala capitalized, Coach Ronnenberg said.