By Skip Hunter –

The girls of Southwest Minnesota Christian began Section 3A South subsection play last Tuesday. Their opponents were the eighth seeded Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda Coyotes. The Eagles had beaten them twice handily during the regular season and hoped to do the same once more.

After a sluggish start the Eagles defense and an anemic Coyote offense let the Eagles move out to a 48-18 lead by half time. The Eagles outscored the visitors 32-20 in the second half as they won easily, 80-38.

It took over 2 minutes for either team to get on the scoreboard. Finally, Cybil Vander Top used a pass from Makenzie Snyder to hit a trey. After a HLOF free throw, Vander Top stepped around 2 Coyotes and hit a lay-up. After the visitors picked up 5 points, Vander Top hit another trey using a pass from Rylie Fey. The Coyotes answered that shot with a long range shot of their own to take a 9-8 lead.

The Coyotes went scoreless for the next 7:58 while the Eagles picked up 26 points. Ella Veldkamp scored first in the run. She grabbed an offensive carom, was fouled while putting up a shot, and made both free throws. The senior then drained a triple using a pass from Maren Nerem. Hannah Pap scored from beyond the arc thanks to a pass from Brooklynn Moss. The Eagles next scored on a fast break and Nerem grabbed a defensive board, tossed the ball ahead to Morgan Pap who found an open Moss for 2 points. Fey and Veldkamp each made put back shots followed by a Makenna Moss bucket after picking up a loose ball.

The Eagles continued to score with 2 made free throws by Vander Top, a drive for a deuce by Veldkamp, and a bucket by Vander Top after a steal. The Eagles final point in the 26-0 run was a Veldkamp trey assisted by M. Moss. After HLOF broke the run, M. Pap drove into the lane for a bucket. Nerem scored using an H. Pap pass followed by an old fashioned 3-point play by M. Pap using a left-hand drive to the hoop. Nerem was fouled while shooting and made both free throws. M. Pap drove the baseline for a deuce. The final Eagle buckets in the first half were identical Vander Top to M. Moss combinations. The teams headed to the dressing room with the Eagles leading 48-18.

Fey scored a putback basket to open the second half. After a Coyote deuce, M. Pap scored a pair of putback buckets. The Eagles continued to score with a fast-break bucket by Vander Top assisted by M. Pap. Vander Top was fouled on the play and made the charity toss. Nerem scored the next 5 points on 3 of 4 free throw shooting and a nice low post maneuver for a bucket. None of the Coyote post could handle the senior in the low post.