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Published February 02, 2012, 02:38 PM

Warriors pull away from Wildcat girls

The Wildcat girls’ basketball team cut a 10-point first quarter deficit to four at the break and remained within four at the end of the third quarter before Rice Lake hit its free throws in the fourth quarter on its way to handing River Falls a 60-48 defeat Thursday night, Jan. 26, at the high school.

By: Bob Burrows, River Falls Journal

  • Wildcat Lexi Knotek
    • image
    Wildcat junior Lexi Knotek drives past a Rice Lake defender in the first half of the Cats’ 60-48 loss to the Warriors Thursday night at the high school. Knotek tied for the team-lead in scoring with nine points. Bob Burrows photo.

The Wildcat girls’ basketball team cut a 10-point first quarter deficit to four at the break and remained within four at the end of the third quarter before Rice Lake hit its free throws in the fourth quarter on its way to handing River Falls a 60-48 defeat Thursday night, Jan. 26, at the high school.

The Wildcats trailed 17-7 at the end of one before outscoring Rice Lake 17-11 in the second quarter. Baskets by Abby Purfeerst and Masy Engel in the final minute cut the Warrior lead to 28-24 at halftime.

The two teams matched points in the third quarter and Rice Lake was hanging on to a 42-38 lead with one quarter remaining. But the Warriors, who connected on 14-of-19 free throws in the game, outscored the Wildcats 18-10 in the final eight minutes to escape with the win.

Rice Lake improved to 10-4 overall, 5-1 in the Big Rivers Conference, while River Falls fell to 5-7 overall, 1-5 in BRC play.

The Cats used a balanced attack with five different players scoring at least eight points. Engel, Lexi Knotek and Rachael Matzek all had nine points in the loss while Purfeerst and Amanda Rohl contributed eight points each and Bethany O’Leary scored five.

Rice Lake hit eight three-pointers while River Falls had three — one each by O’Leary, Knotek and Purfeerst.

The Wildcats faced Baldwin-Woodville this past Monday at Target Center in Minneapolis and visited Eau Claire North for a BRC game on Tuesday. They travel to Chippewa Falls this Friday, Feb. 3, and return home to host Hudson next Thursday, Feb. 9, at 7:30 p.m.

Read more about sports in the Feb. 2 print edition of the River Falls Journal. To purchase or see what's in our photo galleries go here: River Falls Journal Photo Galleries

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