Pines girls drop a third close game this year

Close games have been the norm so far this year for the Northland Pines girls basketball team, which included a third loss this season in a game decided by seven points or less. The Eagles fell to Florence at home 38-32.
The other games where the Eagles came up just short include a 37-30 loss to Three Lakes-Phelps and a 42-39 loss to Tomahawk.
“It’s hard to take a loss from Three Lakes, Tomahawk, and Florence all right in a row. Progress has been made with each one of these losses,” said Pines girls head coach Jaclyn Halsey. “Although looking back on these three losses that were winnable games, I know we are better now than what we were three weeks ago. That’s what a coach wants to continue to see.”
It was a tight first half, with just a combined 25 points being scored between the two sides. Offensively, the Eagles spread the ball around nicely and saw five different players score four or more points. Florence held a 13-12 lead at the halftime break.
“Coming into Florence, we knew it would be a battle, as last year it came right down to the wire as well. We were up for the challenge with Florence as they run a little different offense set than what we see in our conference,” explained Halsey. “We came out a little flat in the first half. We were running our offense through, but just being a little slower on ball movement than what I would like, and passing up opportunities to score.”

Halftime adjustments were made by Pines and it proved to be crucial in the opening few minutes of the second half. Ryley and Ryyn Darr, who combined for 12 points with six points each, scored a combined six points to kick off the second half.
“We came out in the second half, with the Darr sisters making a quick six points to get the ball rolling. We certainly needed that,” said Halsey.
Though late-game mistakes were the ultimate difference between the loss and picking up a third win, sophomore Natalie Kohn kept Pines in the game, according to Halsey. She finished with 10 points and 11 rebounds.
“She locked in our team’s first double-double of the season. She is a big reason why we stayed in that game,” stated Halsey. “She does all the same things that don’t always show up on the stat board as well. I couldn’t be happier with how she is playing.”
The Eagles recently played a Great Northern Conference game against Lakeland at Pines this past Friday, but results of that game are not in this story due to an early deadline for this publication. Pines will be back in action Friday, Jan. 3, at Marathon.