All but one of the top seeds won its opening-round games of the Section 3AA-North girls basketball tournament Saturday.
Top seed Benson beat No. 8 Morris/Chokio-Alberta 54-42, No. 2 MACCRAY upended No. 7 Montevideo 56-36, No. 3 Yellow Medicine East clipped No. 6 BOLD 58-51 and No. 5 Lac qui Parle Valley rallied to upset No. 4 West Central 57-53.
Montevideo will host the remainder of the tourney starting with Tuesday's semifinals, which pits MACCRAY and YME at 6 p.m. and Benson and LQPV at 7:30 p.m. The sub-section final is slated for 7 p.m. on Friday.
Benson 54, Morris/CA 42
(At Benson) -- Benson (16-7) beat Morris/Chokio-Alberta (8-16) for the third time this season behind Emily Jensen's game-high 20 points and seven assists.
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Jensen drained 15 points in the first half to help the Braves stake a 29-20 lead at halftime. Benson started the second half on a 21-12 run to pull away. Abby Fragodt notched a double-double with 11 points and 10 rebounds and Kelly Jepma also netted 11 points for Benson.
Jasmine Henrich nearly had a double-double by scoring 10 points and hooking nine rebounds to pace the Tigers.
Morris/CA (8-16) 20 22 - 42
Benson (16-7) 29 25 - 54
MORRIS/CHOKIO-ALBERTA - 16-51 FG (1-7 3 pt); 9-16 FT; 34 rebounds; 18 fouls ... Scoring: Mackenzie Kontz 5, Ashley Dohlen 4, Jodee Dittbenner 4, Brittany Nelson 4, C. Johnson 8, Kelsey Draper 7, Jasmine Henrich 10 ... 3-point shots: Kontz 1 ... Rebound leader: Henrich 9 ... Assist leader: Kontz 3 ... Steal leader: Dittbenner 3
BENSON - 19-47 FG (3-7 3 pt); 13-21 FT; 39 rebounds; 15 fouls ... Scoring: Kelly Jepma 11, Nikki Linn 6, Kayla Anderson 2, Emily Jensen 20, Julie Martin 4, Abby Fragodt 11 ... 3-point shots: Linn 2, Jensen 1 ... Rebound leaders: Fragodt 10, Jepma 7 ... Assist leader: Jensen 7 ... Steal leader: Courtney Frank 3
MACCRAY 56, Monte 36
(At Clara City) -- Hilary Groothuis netted 14 points and hooked 11 rebounds to help MACCRAY (18-6) win for eighth time in its last nine games. The Wolverines also got 13 points from Danielle Goeman and 11 from Tory Brouwer.
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The Wolverines, who beat Montevideo 61-54 in their regular-season finale, owned a 38-23 advantage in rebounds and held Montevideo (7-16) to just 11 field goals. Kari Caspers hooked nine rebounds and Christine Condon handed out seven assists for MACCRAY.
The Thunder Hawks were paced by Kara Nelson's 11 points and Brook Moseng's 10 points.
Montevideo (7-16) 17 19 - 36
MACCRAY (18-6) 26 30 - 56
MONTEVIDEO - 11-52 FG (2-9 3 pt); 12-16 FT; 23 rebounds; 14 fouls ... Scoring: Jessi Roggatz 2, Kara Nelson 11, Hannah Wenaas 2, Brook Moseng 10, Rikka Boike 8, Taylor Skoglund 3 ... 3-point shots: Nelson 2 ... Rebound leader: Skoglund 5, Boike 5 ... Assist leader: Nelson 3 ... Steal leader: Barbi Reuss 2, Boike 2
MACCRAY - 22-55 FG (2-7 3-pt); 10-16 FT; 38 rebounds; 17 fouls ... Scoring: Christine Condon 4, Danielle Goeman 13, Ashley Beseman 9, Tory Brouwer 11, Hilary Groothuis 14, Amanda Bonnema 3, Kari Caspers 2 ... 3-point shots: Condon 1, Bonnema 1 ... Rebound leader: Groothuis 11, Caspers 9 ... Assist leaders: Condon 7, Brouwer 3 ... Steal leader: Caspers 3 ... Blocked shots: Caspers 4
YME 58, BOLD 51
(At Granite Falls) -- Audrey Formo rolled her ankle earlier in the week and wasn't expected to play in the Yellow Medicine East's playoff opener. But the senior netted 21 points to help the Sting (14-11) beat BOLD (6-19) for the third time this season.
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Formo had only two points at halftime after the Warriors played a box-and-one on her. BOLD took off the box-and-one on Formo in the second half after YME starting making its shots from outside. That allowed Formo more room and she responded with 19 points. The Sting also got 13 points, five assists and three steals from Kristin Hegna.
Melissa Benson had 12 points and Megan Novotny 10 to pace BOLD, which got a game-high 11 rebounds from Leah Miller.
BOLD (6-19) 18 33 - 51
YME (14-11) 28 30 - 58
BOLD - 22-45 FG (3-8 3-pt); 4-12 FT; 32 rebounds; 14 fouls ... Scoring: Alison Agre 7, Chelsey Remillard 2, Melissa Benson 12, Leah Miller 4, Kaylene Lundstrum, 9, Megan Novotny 10, Sara Grasmon 7 ... 3-point shots: Agre 1, Benson 2 ... Rebound leader: Miller 11 ... Assist leader: Miller 4 ... Steal leader: Benson 3
YELLOW MEDICINE EAST - 22-53 FG (4-14 3-pt); 10-19 FT; 24 rebounds; 12 fouls ... Scoring: Emily Balfany 9, Kristin Hegna 13, Michelle Preuss 8, Audrey Formo 21, Annie Jepson 4, Emma Volstad 3... 3-point shots: Hegna 3, Preuss 1 ... Rebound leader: Preuss 8 ... Assist leader: Hegna 5, Balfany 4 ... Steal leader: Hegna 3, Balfany 3
LQPV 57, West Central 53
(At Barrett) -- Lac qui Parle Valley went 14-for-16 from the free-throw line in the second half to advance. Mindy Clark (7-for-7) and Kayla Rheingans (5-for-5) combined to make 12 free throws in the second half for the Eagles.
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Rheingans led all scorers with 19 points while Clark trailed with 18. Rheigans also grabbed 12 rebounds and pocketed three steals. LQPV led by six at one point in the first half before West Central opened the second half with a run to take a five-point lead.
LQPV (11-13) 25 32 - 57
West Central (11-12) 22 31 - 53
LAC QUI PARLE VALLEY - 19-47 FG (3-11 3 pt); 16-19 FT; 35 rebounds; 16 fouls ... Scoring: Melanie Gail 7, Amber Moen 2, Mindy Clark 18, Madeline Gail 7, Kayla Rheingans 19, Micaela Erickson 2, Chelsea Haugen 2 ... 3-point shots: Melanie Gail 1, Madeline Gail 1, Clark 1 ... Rebound leaders: Rheigans 12, Madeline Gail 8 ... Assist leaders: Moen 4, Melanie Gail 3 ... Steal leader: Rheingans 3
WEST CENTRAL - 19-51 FG (4-12 3 pt); 11-19 FT; 16 rebounds; 17 fouls ... Scoring: Marissa Holsen 7, Liza Torgerson 6, Kendra Vipond 14, Taylor Brekke 10, Katie Anderson 1, Laura Hubner 3, Delaine Ronhovde 8, Chrystal Lazey 4 ... 3-point shots: Torgerson 2, Holsen 1, Brekke 1 ... Rebound leader: Vipond 6 ... Assist leader: Holsen 5 ... Steal leader: Ronhovde 5
