Eagles bounce back to beat Warriors by 3

The Brainerd Warriors had Class 3A's defending state champions on the ropes.

Unfortunately, the Warriors lacked a knockout punch Friday. The 9-0 Totino-Grace Eagles forced 15 second-half turnovers and closed out the girls' basketball game at Brainerd High School with an 8-0 run to win 47-44.

Brainerd's 15 turnovers didn't hurt as bad as a 1-for-7 performance at the foul line, including 0-for-3 on 1-and-1 opportunities. The Warriors' defense, which silenced T-G in the first half, forced 11 turnovers. They just couldn't capitalize, shooting 27 percent (6-of-22) in the second half.

"They turned up the pressure and outhustled us in the second half," said Warriors head coach Carl Hendrickson. "They went to that little trap and we turned the ball over. Then, coming down the stretch, we didn't knock down the shots and we can't afford to do that."

Key: The Eagles forced 15 second-half turnovers and closed out the game with an 8-0 run.

Overall: Brd 4-3, T-G 9-0

Next: Brainerd at Fergus Falls 7:30 p.m. Tuesday.

All that didn't go right in the second half did in the first for Brainerd, which built a 12-point halftime lead. KB Capers scored nine of her team-high 11 points in that frame and Kyle Stanfield scored eight of her 10.

Brainerd shot 43 percent and held T-G to 29 percent and closed out the half with a 12-2 run.

Seven different Warriors scored in the first half. Six Warriors scored in the second half, but Tess Rahto's three points was the high.

"This was probably the hardest we've played in a number of weeks," said Hendrickson. "We're pleased with the effort, just not the outcome.

"When it gets to this intensity, where they pick up the defensive pressure on us, we were still able to get some good looks at the basket. We just didn't make the shots. This game is only going to make us a better team down the road."

The Eagles' Lizzi Naumann, a key member of the Eagles' state title run, led all scorers with 13 points.

Class 3A's third-ranked Eagles came into the contest outscoring opponents 61.8-41.8. Their 47 points are a season low.

"It was the first time we saw the 3-2 zone defense flat across the top," said Eagles coach Shannon Hartinger. "They did a really good job with that. They made things look open that weren't quite open and we went for them in the first half. In the second half we fixed that.

"We were 1-of-8 from 3-point and didn't shoot a free throw in the first half. We have never shot that bad. We realized we had to get to the free throw line and that meant we needed to drive and get the ball inside more often."

T-G's Rachel Lukasik opened the second half with two 3-pointers and finished with nine points. The Eagles then went on a 7-0 run to close to 37-32.

"I think this is actually the toughest team that we've played so far," said Hartinger. "Win or lose this would have been a really good game for us."

Totino-Grace 19 28 - 47

Brainerd 31 13 - 44

Totino-Grace

Kaeli Kraska 8, Jackie Meyer 1, Rachel Lukasik 9, Jenny Dillon 2, Lizzi Naumann 13, Keyana Mirbaghri 8, Lauren Soukup 4, Jenna Johnson 2. FG 19-55 (35 percent), FT 5-8 (63 percent), 3-point baskets: 4-14 (Lukasik 2, Mirbaghri 2).

BRAINERD

Sara Parsons 2, Alex Sauer 2, Emilee Branum 6, Kylie Stanfield 10, Tess Rahto 6, Emily Thesing 3, Nicolette Graumann 4, KB Capers 11. Team totals: FG 18-50 (36 percent), FT 7-18 (39 percent), 3-point baskets: 1-6 (Thesing).