By Chad Koenen

Publisher

New York Mills had its season come to an end on Friday night as the third seeded Eagles fell to second seeded Underwood by a score of 58-56. The game came two nights after the Eagles defeated Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal by a score of 61-36 in the opening round of the playoffs.

The loss ends the Eagles season with a record of 14-5 overall and 9-3 in the Park Region Conference. The Eagles finished in second place in the conference. Of NY Mills’ five losses, two each came at the hands of Underwood and Henning. The only other team to defeat the Eagles this season was Menahga and that was only by 9 points.

With the win the Rockets will take on top seeded Henning for the sub section title on Tuesday night with the winner advancing to Thursday’s section finals against either Hancock or West Central Area. 

Wednesday

Nine Eagles reached the scoring column as NY Mills defeated Norman County East/Ulen-Hitterdal by a score of 61-36 on Wednesday night. 

The Eagles jumped out to a 28-13 lead at halftime and continued to find success in the second half on the offensive end of the court. Sixteen players were able to log some action in the sub section opener, which was the final home game of the season for the Eagles.

Cydnie Polman led the way offensively as she scored 8 of her team-high 13 points in the first half. She hit a pair of 3-pointers in the win and went a perfect 2-2 from the free throw line. Kali Olson also reached double-figures as she scored 8 points in the second half to finish with 11 points in the game.

Bella Bauck scored 9 points, Megan Riedel scored 8 points, Ayla Olson and Kailey Keskitalo each scored 5 points, Aidyn Baune and Anna Meech scored 4 points and Moriah Geiser rounded out the scoring with 2 points in the win.

Friday

In a game between two evenly matched teams, it was clear from the beginning that whoever went on the last run of the game would probably come home with a win on Friday night. That proved to be true as NY Mills came up just short in its upset bid over second seeded Underwood by a score of 58-56. 

The Eagles and Rockets were tied at 29-29 at halftime and NY Mills led late in the game as it looked to come away with the sub section semi-final win on the road. Unfortunately, the Rockets were able to hit a couple of late shots to come away with a heartbreaking win over NY Mills and end the Eagles’ season. The game ended up being just as close as the final score sounded as both teams were unable to put much distance between the other one throughout the night. 

Just two days after hitting five 3-pointers against the Titans, NY Mills hit just one 3-pointer on Friday and went just 11-23 from the free throw line. Underwood hit three 3-pointers and went just 9-23 from the free throw line. When the two teams played earlier this season the Rockets defeated the Eagles by a score of 47-38.

Moriah Geiser had a big night from the floor as she scored 15 points, including 9 points in the first half alone. Megan Riedel also reached double-figures with 13 points and Kali Olson hit several big free throws in the second half to finish with 11 points.

Cydnie Polman scored all 7 of her points in the second half, while Bella Bauck scored 5, Ayla Olson scored 4 and Kailey Keskitalo rounded out the scoring with 1 point.