Tiger girls advance to 4A subsection finals

By Danielle Strenke
It was never a close game, with Rush City leading Maranatha at times by as many as 21 points. The Tigers controlled throughout the game with aggressive defense and quick passing to down the Mustangs 60-46 Feb. 25 in the subsection 4A quarterfinals.
Rush City came into playoffs as the No. 2 seed, and faced No. 7 seed Maranatha. The Tigers jumped out to a 22-9 lead in the first half, and held a comfortable 38-25 lead at halftime.
The defense came back in the third and held the Mustangs to 7 points and 14 in the fourth.
ìWe are playing our best basketball of the season, the team is playing with a lot of confidence,î Head Coach Stuart Lang said.
The squad had balanced scoring, led by junior Mindy Scott with 13, senior Maria Kuhlman with 10, sophomore Holly Grimes with 10 and senior Jess Prettner with 9.
It was the first quarterfinal win for the Rush City program in several years, Lang said.
The win advanced the Tigers to the semifinals Feb. 27 against No. 3 seed Meadow Creek. Again, Rush Cityís defense established a quick pace in the game as the team cruised to a 51-30 win.
After opening to a 14-all tie in the second quarter, the Tigers went on a 14-0 run to lead 28-14 at the half and never looked back. ìWe were a little tight to start the game, but we hustled on defense and that helped us relax on offense,î Lang said.
Scott led the team with 15 points, followed by Grimes with 12. Prettner had her best all-around game of the year, Lang said, finishing with 10 points and 7 rebounds.
That put the squad in its most challenging game of the playoffs ñ facing No. 1 seed East Central in the subsection 1A finals, which was scheduled for Tuesday, March 4.
East Central came into the game as the Great River Conference champions, suffering only one conference loss during the regular season ñ coming at the hands of Rush City.
A win in the game would put the Tigers in the 4A championship game this Friday, March 7 to face the winner of subsection 2A of Region 4A.

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