The Minneapolis girls came into their match-up against Beloit having lost nine straight to the Lady Trojans. Their last victory against them was January 16, 2015 in a game that took overtime to decide a winner. Fast forward nearly four years later and history repeated itself tonight, as the Lady Lions pulled off a stunning upset victory in overtime on the road defeating the home town Trojans 58-56.
A back and forth first quarter saw the Lions ahead 11-8. Tied at 14 all with 5:18 to go in the half, Beloit would go on a 9-3 run to close the frame and lead at the break 23-17.
The Trojans would push their lead to as many as nine with 4:30 to go in the third, but Minneapolis used an 8-2 run to close out the quarter and get back within three at 34-31. A 7-2 run to open the fourth for Beloit extended their lead to 41-33 with 6:06 remaining in the game. The Lions would chip away at the lead, getting it down to four at 47-43 with 2:15 remaining. With :50 seconds left, a Kersti Nelson three pointer would tie the game at 47 all and force the overtime.
Beloit would score the first five points in the extra frame, and lead 54-50 with 1:30 remaining. Another three by Nelson would tie it at 56 all with under :30 seconds remaining. Minneapolis would steal an inbound pass, and with 1.5 seconds to go a shot in the paint rattled in for Kylie Fuller making it 58-56. Beloit had one final opportunity, but Nelson stole yet another inbound pass and Minneapolis would seal the win.
Senior Karisma Vignery had a season high 24 points in the win, with Nelson also supplying a season high of 11. Breezy Schroeder led all Beloit scorers with 13.
The Lady Lions improve to 4-6 overall, 2-4 in NCAA play and will next face Ell-Saline.
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The nightcap was a much different story, as the Beloit boys showed why they are ranked #8 in class 3A with a resounding 73-44 win.
An early lead to begin the ballgame would be the only lead Minneapolis would hold on the night, and an 11-4 run to end the first quarter had the Trojans on top 19-9. They would push their lead to 16 at the halftime up 39-23.
The route would continue in the third quarter with the score at 57-36 upon its conclusion. Both teams were able to bring some younger faces onto the floor to close things out, and with a running clock halfway through the fourth quarter the Trojans finished off the Lions by a 73-44 final.
Carson Cox of Beloit would lead the way with 16 points. Tate Thompson chipped in with 12. Jonah Ausherman had 11 for the Lions while Kaden McCullick supplied 10.
The loss ends the three game Minneapolis win streak as they fall to 7-3 overall and 4-2 in NCAA play. The Lions will enter their mid-season tournament next week as the #3 seed in the 49th annual Adolph Rupp boys basketball tournament as they travel to Halstead to take on the #6 seed Dragons on Tuesday.
https://soundcloud.com/minneapolis-lions/minneapolis-boys-1-11-19
