The Paton-Churdan girls basketball team advanced to the second round of Class 1A Region 8 tournament play with a 51-27 win in Coon Rapids over Coon Rapids-Bayard Feb. 11.
The Rockets dominated throughout the game, taking an early lead and ending the first quarter up 14-6. The score was 21-13 at halftime and44-18 after three quarters.
“The girls really did a great job of responding after a couple of tough losses,” coach Chris Petersen said. “The girls did a great job of closing the game out in the third and fourth quarters. This was especially important for us after losing the last two in the fourth quarter.”
Petersen credited his team for playing aggressive defense and forcing CR-B into numerous turnovers. The Rockets totaled 17 steals against the Crusaders, with Sydney Koch, Jenna Beyers and Carleigh Paup nabbing five each and Kasey Lane and Grace Geisler taking one each.
Paup scored 18 points and Koch scored 11. Beyers scored nine points and lead in rebounds with 13. Geisler had 8 points, Lane had three and Megan Carey had two. Lane and Carey each had six rebounds.
The Rockets had played the Crusaders in Churdan Dec. 22 and claimed a 57-46 win. The Crusaders finished the regular season with two wins and 18 losses while the Rockets finished the regular season with 11 wins and nine losses.
“This was a nice win to pick up some momentum as we head into the next round with Glidden-Ralston on Tuesday,” Petersen said
The Rockets take on the Glidden-Ralston Wildcats Feb. 16 at 7 pm in Glidden. The Wildcats finished the regular season at 18-3. They topped the Rockets in Glidden 43-34 in December and in Churdan 58-44 in January.
