GMG junior Brooklyn Jones (43) snares a rebound in front of BCLUW senior Morgan Bergman (55) during the second half of Thursday’s Class 1A Region 8 girls basketball game in Conrad. PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

CONRAD — BCLUW girls basketball sharpened up after a challenge from a determined GMG team on Thursday, Feb. 13, and the Comets eventually bounded away for a 57-31 victory in a Class 1A Region 8 opener at BCLUW High School.

BCLUW improved to 15-7 overall and was set to welcome another Iowa Star rematch as Baxter visited Conrad for a regional quarterfinal this past Tuesday. GMG bows out at 5-18.

The Wolverines were thumped by BCLUW six days ahead of the postseason opener, 55-7, and in last Thursday’s matchup were without leading scorer Makayla Pendleton.

Nevertheless, GMG took the fight to the Comets early on with a 6-2 start to the game, forcing turnovers with their pressure and taking and making shots.

“We had to come out and make their job difficult,” GMG head coach Devon Diederichs said. “We did a really good job with the press early, and our energy was just really good from the jump.”

PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

GMG led 9-7 after an Olivia Maddux 3-pointer but the Comets scored the last six points of the first quarter, including two baskets on turnovers from BCLUW’s own pressure, leading 13-9 at the first quarter horn and never trailing again.

“We came out flat and credit to them, they were ready to go,” BCLUW head coach Joel Johnson said. “I don’t know if there’s many times in my coaching career here that I’ve ever called two timeouts in the first quarter but it really took us a quarter to get going.”

BCLUW’s three-headed post presence of Grace Farnsworth, Savannah Moeller and Morgan Bergman asserted themselves in the second quarter, accounting for all but one of the 13 points scored as the Comets built a 26-14 lead heading to the locker room at half.

Farnsworth finished with a game-high 13 points, Moeller added 10 points and Bergman put in eight points for the Comets.

“I think we came into this game with the wrong mindset after beating them twice already,” Moeller said. “We definitely changed our attitude for the second half and came through.”

PHOTO BY JAKE RYDER

After a quiet first-half behind the arc, BCLUW got the 3-point game going in the second half, with five treys in the last two quarters, including two for Kalia Stover.

Klayre Gallentine, BCLUW’s leading 3-point shooter at nearly 35 percent on average, couldn’t find her mark with only one 3-pointer on the day but produced elsewhere for nine total points as well as being an indispensable part of moving the ball against GMG’s press and causing havoc on the defensive side.

“She does so many other things for us,” Johnson said. “Sometimes your shot’s not going to be there, but just defensively, rebounding, passing, that’s what she needed to do. And the other girls made threes to open us up inside and our bigs have great confidence in them.”

GMG’s season comes to an end after having to start from scratch this winter, with no regular returning starters back this year and only a couple with varsity experience to speak of.

“I’m so proud of them,” Diederichs said. “We could’ve given up after going through all this adversity, haven’t won a game since January — they kept fighting. So grateful for that group of girls.”

BCLUW 57, GMG 31

GMG (5-18) — Skyler Murty 3 0-0 6, Landry August 1 0-0 2, Olivia Maddux 2 0-0 5, Rhianna Murty 4 0-0 8, Brooklyn Jones 0 1-2 1, Bryleigh Bartel 0 0-0 0, Macie Sanders 2 0-2 5, Madison Bryant 0 0-0 0, Ava Maddux 0 0-0 0, Arianna Pierce 2 0-1 4. TOTALS 14 1-5 31.

BCLUW (15-7) — Raegan Crawford 1 1-2 3, Kalia Stover 2 0-0 6, Klayre Gallentine 3 2-2 9, Grace Farnsworth 3 7-14 13, Savannah Moeller 5 0-0 10, Brinna Benson 2 0-0 5, Layla Follet 0 0-0 0, Abby Kemp 1 0-0 3, Addison Moeller 0 0-0 0, Morgan Bergman 4 0-0 8. TOTALS .

GMG 9 5 8 9 — 31

BCLUW 13 13 17 14 — 57

3-Point Goals-GMG 2 (O. Maddux, Sanders), BCLUW 5 (Stover 2, Benson, Kemp, Gallentine). Team Fouls-GMG 17, BCLUW 12. Fouled Out-S. Murty.