WAO PONY GIRLS BASKETBALL FINISHES SECTION 8A RUNNER-UP

The Warren-Alvarado-Oslo Ponies Girl’s Basketball team saw their season come to an end on Friday night with a 71-53 loss to the Cass Lake-Bena Panthers in the Section 8A Championship in Thief River Falls at Ralph Engelstad Arena.

FIRST HALF –
The Panthers opened the scoring with a layup on the opening possession of the game, and the teams went scoreless until Warren-Alvarado-Oslo splashed in a three to take an early 3-2 lead with 15:13 remaining in the opening half. Unfortunately for the Ponies, it would be their only lead of the game. Cass Lake-Bena would go on a 9-2 run over the next three minutes to take an 11-5 lead and force a Ponies timeout. Out of the timeout, Warren-Alvarado-Oslo got going offensively and countered the Panthers run with a 5-0 run of their own to cut the Cass Lake-Bena lead down to 11-10. After the teams traded two-pointers, The Panthers responded with a monster run, this time a 12-1 run to take a 25-13 lead, forcing another Ponies timeout with 6:12 left to play in the half. Out of the timeout, the Panthers hot shooting continued, and they would knock down three straight three-pointers to stretch their lead to 34-13 with 3:23 left to play. The Ponies would get three straight points from Lily Bayne, and after two free throws from Annika Magnusson, the Ponies had shrunk the Panthers lead down to 34-18 with 2:18 left to play. That would be as close as Warren-Alvarado-Oslo would get it the rest of the half, as the Panthers would knock down two more three-pointers and go on an 8-1 run to end the first half and take a 42-19 lead into the halftime break. Cass Lake-Bena outscored Warren-Alvarado-Oslo 21-1 in the span of 5:28 and ended the first half on a 29-7 run to build the lead. Cass Lake-Bena had two players score double digits in the first half, and hit 8 three-pointers, five of which were made by Gabby Fineday. Warren-Alvarado-Oslo was led by Lily Bayne with 6 points in the first eighteen minutes.

SECOND HALF –
Neither team controlled the second half, and anytime the Ponies would try and put a run together, the Panthers would have a response. The Panthers were able to build a 51-23 lead early in the second half, but the Ponies responded with a 4-0 run with baskets from Hannah Pederson, and Kylie Nelson to give Cass-Lake-Bena a 51-27 advantage. The Panthers slowly started to pull away, and after an 11-5 scoring run, Cass Lake-Bena was in front 62-32 with 8:19 left in the game. The Ponies would fight back and put together a small 8-2 scoring run to cut the Panthers lead down to 64-40 with 5:12 remaining. The run was highlighted with free throws from Lily Bayne and Annika Magnusson, as well as a Magnusson three-pointer. The Ponies were able to get the lead all the way down to 16 points, and outscore the Panthers 34-29 in the second half before eventually falling 71-53, making Cass Lake-Bena, the Section 8A Champions for the second consecutive season.

Warren-Alvarado-Oslo ends their season with a final record of 17-9, while being the 8A West Sub-Section Champions, and runner up in the Section 8A Championship. Cass Lake-Bena improves to 28-2, and the Panthers will now compete next week in the Class A State Tournament down in Minneapolis.

For the postgame interview with Pony Coach Casey Pierce, click below.

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