MOORHEAD - Dana Patsie-Rutten scored 1,142 points during her basketball career at North Dakota State from 1985 to 1988. Saturday, she watched her daughter inch closer to the 1,000-point mark.
Ellie Rutten, a 6-foot-1 sophomore, poured in 25 points to lift New York Mills to a 54-46 win over Lake Park-Audubon in a Minnesota Class 1A, Section 6 quarterfinal game at Concordia's Memorial Auditorium.
"For us to win, she has to play well," said New York Mills coach J.J. Weller. "She can really eat teams up."
Rutten scored 14 of her points during the first 11 minutes of the second half, helping New York Mills take a 45-32 lead. Lake Park-Audubon made it interesting, cutting the lead to 49-46 with 30 seconds remaining, but could get no closer.
"We knew we could beat this team," said Rutten, whose sister Lydia, a 5-11 eighth grader, scored 7 points. "She's helped us out a lot this season."
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While Lake Park-Audubon's season ends with a 14-13 record, New York Mills will take an 11-13 record against perennial power and defending section champion Ada-Borup in Tuesday's semifinal game at Concordia.
"We have to take care of the ball," Weller said, referring to Ada-Borup's pressure defense. It will mark the first time New York Mills will play Ada-Borup this season.
NYM: L. Rutten 3 1-2 7, E. Roberts 2 5-9 12, Irons 0 2-2 2, Barvels 1 0-1 4, M. Roberts 2 0-0 4, E. Rutten 11 3-4 25. Totals: 20 11-19.
LPA: Hamre 1 0-0 2, Sunram 0 0-2 0, Olson 6 0-0 12, Anderson 4 2-2 10, Hogie 5 2-4 12, Raaen 1 0-0 2. Bartunek 4 0-0 8. Totals: 21 4-8.
Halftime: NYM 23, LPA 22. 3-point goals: NYM 1 (E. Roberts 1), LPA 0. Fouls: NYM 11, LPA 19.
Ada-Borup 51, Waubun 34
There are going to be games when the shots just don't drop, even for the No. 8-ranked Ada-Borup girls basketball team.
So the Cougars do what they usually do, rely on pressure defense. That's what sparked them to a 51-34 win over a pesky Waubun team.
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"We are all about defense," said Ada-Borup senior Megan Kolness. "If we can't score on offense, then we aren't going to let them score."
Despite poor shooting which saw the Cougars make only three of 19 3-pointers, Ada-Borup improved to 24-3 and are two wins from defending its Section 6 championship.
Ada-Borup's only losses this season have come against two Class 2A teams (Hawley and Crookston) and to Parkers Prairie, the sixth-ranked team in Class 1A. Ada-Borup is hoping for another shot at Parkers Prairie in the section title game scheduled for Friday at Concordia.
"We're taking it one game at a time," said Kolness, who along with junior guard Monica Vega sparked an 11-0 run that gave Ada-Borup a 48-27 lead with 4 minutes and 30 seconds remaining of the game.
Vega finished with 15 points while Kolness had 12 points.
Waubun, which lost to Ada-Borup 59-53 Dec. 14, ends its season with a 10-15 record.
WAUBUN: Lerud 1 0-0 3, Yost 2 0-1 4, Voss 4 3-6 11, Winter 1 0-0 3, Jasken 2 0-1 4, Haverkamp 1 2-2 4, Brakefield 1 0-0 3, Swedberg 0 2-2 2. Totals: 12 7-11.
ADA-BORUP: Stevenson 1 0-0 2, Vega 5 4-6 15, Kolness 4 2-4 12, Eggen 3 3-6 9, Gehrtz 2 1-2 5, Haley Poehler 2 0-0 4, Lee 1 0-0 2, Hannah Poehler 1 0-0 2. Totals: 19 10-18.
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Halftime: Ada-Borup 29, Waubun 18. Total fouls: Waubun 16, Ada-Borup 16. Fouled out: Jasken. 3-point goals: Waubun 3 (Winter 1, Lerud 1, Brakefiled 1), Ada-Borup 3 (Vega 1, Kolness 2).
