MOORHEAD - The New York Mills girls’ basketball quest for a third consecutive upset in the Section 6A North Subsection playoffs was ended by the No. 1-seeded Ada-Borup Cougars, ranked No. 8 in Class A, by a score of 67-39.
The Eagles entered the playoffs as the No. 6-seed with a record of 9-13, but got hot at the right time in upsets over No. 3 Norman County West 68-51 in Halstad and a 54-46 win over No. 2 Lake Park-Audubon at Concordia College.
The Cougars controlled play Tuesday leading 30-16 at halftime over the Eagles. New York Mills got the first basket of the game for their only lead.
“Offensively, we had a hard time handling their pressure,” NY Mills Head Coach JJ Weller said.
The Cougars forced 21 Eagle turnovers.
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“We were not able to slow the game down and get set up in our half-court offense.”
The Eagles cut the Cougar lead to single digits, 19-10, with 7:34 remaining in the first half. Ada came out shooting hot in the second half and cruised to the victory.
The Eagles finished the season with a record of 11-14 and a run to the Subsection final was unexpected and a boon to next year’s program.
Sophomore center Ellie Rutten led the Eagles with 14 points, including her 1,000th career point. With two more years with Rutten, the Eagles should improve next season.
EmaLeigh Roberts scored 12 points for New York Mills completing an impressive senior season.
Megan Kolness led all scorers with 17 points. The Cougars had three other players in double figures: Mike Lee scored 11; halehy Pehler and Heidi Eggen each scored 10 points.
"I’m proud of how our girls fought, not only in this game, but in the final few weeks of the season," said Weller. "It was a goal of ours to get to Concordia and we were able to play there twice. We started really playing with confidence as a team and believing that we could beat some of these teams. It was fun for everyone to be a part of-our girls were cheering and supporting each other throughout each playoff game. My hope is that we can take this momentum and use it to help us build for the future."
Ada-Borup 67, New York Mills 39
Half: A-B 30, NYM 16.
Scoring:
ADA - Kolness 17, Lee 11, Eggen 10, Poehler 10, Vega 8, Merkens 4, Gehrtz 4, Stevenson 3.
NYM - Rutten 14, E. Roberts 12, L. Rutten 8, Irons 5.
