Crusaders too much for Blooming Prairie basketball teams

Down by just eight points with 5 minutes left in the half, a Loyola press forced Blooming Prairie turnovers and a 20-2 run for the Crusaders in a 68-33 girls basketball victory over the locals at Mankato Saturday. Jan. 9.  
The Blossoms now stand at 9-3 overall and 3-1 in the conference.
The Crusaders shot 36 percent from the field on 26-of-72 attempts, while BP made just 22 percent on 11-of-43 tries. Hannah Ahrens scored eight points to lead the Blossom attack, but no other local could count more than six points. Ahrens also had 10 rebounds and an assist, and Marissa Larson had nine rebounds in the losing effort.
BP solid in win
BP ran away from the Eagles with two good halves of basketball for a 57-37 victory at Maple River Friday, Jan. 8. 
BP shot 33 percent from the field on 21-of-64 attempts to just 23 percent for the home team. Marissa Larson rebounded from a scoreless effort in the last game to lead the Blossoms with 18 points and 13 rebounds for a double double. Wurst came off the bench to add 12 points and 10 rebounds for a double double also, and Kalyn Naatz added eight points and five rebounds. Lauren Larkoski handed out three assists and had three steals, Kylie Forystek added two assists and two steals, and Kaci Gwilt helped out with three assists.
The junior varsity girls lost to Maple River, 41-33. BP showed good balance in scoring, but a tough man-to-man defense by the Eagles forced the locals into some stagnant offensive play.  Maya Lembke had eight points; and Sam Wurst and Rachael Oswald had six points each.  
The team record fell to 6-4.
Girls win ugly
In their first start after the holidays, the Awesome Blossom girls overcame some horrendous shooting and too many turnovers to edge Bethlehem Academy, 42-40 in overtime. 
The conference struggle on the home court Tuesday, Jan. 5, generated the most action in the last minutes of the game.
With less than two minutes to play, and trailing 34-35, Marissa Larson made one of two free throws to tie the game.  Shelby Meyer’s three-pointer gave B.A.  a 39-36 lead, but Lauren Larkoski made one of two free throws and then sent the game into overtime on a rebound basket with 4.5 seconds left. 
Kalyn Naatz got the locals on the board in overtime, and the teams traded baskets, until Hannah Robb calmly sank three free throws on a failed trey attempt to tie the game at 40 with 13 seconds left. Hannah Ahrens then made a twisting shot from the side with 6.7 seconds left, and the defense got a big stop to seal the win. Before those last two minutes, most of the action was inaction.
The first half saw the poorest shooting display of the season by both teams. BP made just 3-of-23 attempts from the floor in the half for a measly 13 percent, and B.A. was only marginally better at 18 percent. Fortunately for the game, the second half shooting improved greatly. The Blossoms finished the game 33 percent to 25 percent for the Cardinals.
“After a sluggish first half,” commented coach John Bruns, “the action really got heavy in the last two minutes of the game.  Larkoski gave us a regulation tie with the rebound put back, and then Hannah made one of her only two baskets of the game to win it. It was an exciting end to a pretty strange night of basketball.”
The Blossoms had an edge in rebounding 30 to 22, with Sam Wurst and Kalyn Naatz each pulling down 10. Naatz also led the scoring with 12 points, and Wurst chipped in 10. Larkoski added nine points, Kylie Forystek dished out four assists and McKenna Hein had three steals to her credit. Meyers counted 14 points for the Cardinals to lead all scorers.
Both the JV and the C squads won their prelims. The JV used some good balanced scoring in a 40-29 victory, while the freshmen won their first game of the season 25-20 over the Cardinals.
After a 22-11 first half start and a struggle with first half shooting, the JV got comfortable against a B. A. and found some easy shots in the second half. Ayren Ingvalson counted 10 points, Sam Wurst eight, McKenna Hein six and Marissa Larson five points in the game.  
Riauna Bishop scored nine points to lead the C team to its first win. Julia Worke and Rachael Oswald added five and four points for the Blossoms.