Cougars' tourney trail ends

ALGONA- The tournament trail come to an end for the AGWSR girls’ basketball team, losing 63-41 to Algona Garrigan in a Class 1A, Region 2 semi-final contest here Friday.

The No. 14 Cougars, winners of eight straight, struggled early against the fourth-ranked Golden Bears’ full-court defense. Several of AGWSR’s 18 turnovers came in the opening eight-minutes as Garrigan dashed to an early 15-6 cushion and led by 10, 23-13 after one quarter.

“That is a legitimate team,” stated AGWSR coach Laurie Gann. “The problem was we wanted to slow the game down and when they got the lead it is tough to do. Their quickness really was tough and trying to defend the drive really got us early.”

Garrigan’s fantastic freshmen tandem of guard Molly Joyce and 6-foot-3 post Audi Crooks didn’t disappoint. Joyce netted a game-high 23 points with 10 in the first quarter and Crooks had 16. Crooks is averaging 23 points per game and Joyce 18.

The Cougars remained within striking distance at halftime, down 35-23, and were within 40-29 on a Rachel Sicard basket three-minutes into the third period.

For the full story see Tuesday's (Feb. 25) edition of the paper.