Despite a hard-fought game versus rival Pequot Lakes, the Pine River-Backus Tigers fell to the Patriots, 76-60, on Jan. 26.
It was a challenging game for the Tigers, and a stellar night for Autumn Ackerman as she scored a career high 21 points and grabbed 16 rebounds for the Tigers.
Two other players had double-doubles for the Tigers: Katie Wangberg had 12 points and 11 rebounds and Tatum Sheley had 12 points and 10 rebounds.
At first the Tigers were able to answer the points the Patriots were making with points of their own, but as the Patriots made five 3-pointers in the first half, the Tigers quickly fell behind and by half time they were down 28-40.
The Tigers managed to come within eight points of the Patriots' lead with 14 minutes left in the game but that was all the closer they'd get as they slowly lost the ground they had gained.
As far as scoring goes, the Tigers actually scored almost as many points as the Patriots did in the second half but it just wasn't enough to make up the deficit from the first half. Coach Randy Schwegel commented, "We had way too many turnovers. Defensively, we were working on a new strategy to keep Pequot to outside shots, and it worked, but then they started hitting their outside shots."
The Tigers are now 13-5 overall and still unbeaten in their conference. They next play Friday, Feb. 5 against the Clearbrook-Gonvick Bears and Saturday, Feb. 6 against the Northome-Kelliher Mustangs. Both are conference games.
Stats: Ackerman was the leading scorer for the Tigers with 21 points, 16 rebounds, one steal, and one assist, Wangberg had 12 points, 11 rebounds, two assists, and blocked one shot, Sheley had 12 points, 10 rebounds, one steal, one assist, and blocked one shot, Hannah Lemberg had seven points, eight assists, and two steals, Kendra Hamilton had four points and three rebounds, Grace Lemberg had two points, and Lexi Hansen had two points and one rebound.
