Sports from the week of February 20, 2002

Girls finish season at 15-6, 212 Conference champs

The Panther girl's basketball team closed their regular season with a 72-33 win over KMS at Tracy Tuesday night. The win improved Tracy/Milroy/Balaton's season record to 15-6 and they are 12-2 in the 212 Conference. The Fighting Saints' record dropped to 2-19 and they are 0-14 in the conference.

"We set the tone in this game early with our aggressive defense," said Panther Coach Paul Soupir. "We also did a good job of getting the ball inside for some high percentage shots."

The Panthers used a full court, high intensity defense to start the game and worked the score to 25-9 by the end of the first period. By the intermission they led the Fighting Saints 38-19 and it was 58-25 after three-quarters of play.

Rhonda Bitker led the scoring with 18 points. Jenny Otto followed her with 14, Laura Zwach with 11, Jenna Tholen with 9 and Kasey Loeslie with 8.

"Jenna (Tholen) is stepping up and making a good contribution at the right time," said Soupir. "This team has good chemistry and is a fun group to work with."

TMB can now look to the section tournament starting Saturday at SSU. They open against Worthington in the first evening game Saturday.

"Worthington is a team that is coming on at the right time of the season," said Soupir. "We have seen them four times so far and they won't quit they just keep coming at you. We will just have to do the things we do best, that is playing good defense. If we do that the offense will follow."

The Panther C team won 56-16 and the B squad won 54-27.

Mat tourney begins Friday

The Panther wrestlers begin individual tournament starting at Lac Qui Parle Valley Friday. The meet continues Saturday.

The meetings to set the pairings will be held Wednesday, February 20.

Kathman, with the best record on the team, is the Panther who has the best chance of advancing to state. "I think I have a shot at going to the state tournament," Kathman said. "It all depends on how I wrestle and who I run into."

Boys close out season Friday in Granite Falls

The Panthers boys travel to Granite Falls Friday night for their final regular season game. They begin the section tourney at SSU on March 2.

Friday night, Kerkoven-Murdock-Sunburg beat the Tracy/Milroy/Balaton 57-46 in Kerkhoven.

The loss dropped the Panther's season record to 2-18 and they are 1-11 in the conference.

The Saints won their first game of the season to improve to 1-18 on the season and 1-12 in 212 Conference. TMB beat KMS Jan 17 for its only conference win.

The teams battled to a 9-9 tie in the first quarter, but the Saints out-scored T/M/B 24-15 in a fast-paced second quarter to take a 33-24 lead to the locker room at the half. They continued their domination and used a tight defense to out-score T/M/B 15-6 in the third period to lead 48-30 after three periods.

Boys are sixth in 3AA south

The Panther boys' basketball team has been seeded sixth out of eight teams in the 3AA South Section Tournament to be held at Southwest State University starting March 2.

Redwood Valley is the No. 1 seed, followed by Worthington, Pipestone-Jasper, Jackson County Central, Windom, Tracy/Milroy/Balaton, Luverne and Martin County West.