Barnum Girls Win First Round At State

Wes Vork-NSO

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Mar 18

Dwight Cadwell-NSO

MINNEAPOLIS – The Barnum Bombers moved one step closer to the ultimate goal of a state championship on Thursday afternoon. They shot down the Nashwauk-Keewatin Spartans 55-23 to advance to the state semi-finals Friday afternoon at the Target Center.

The Bombers jumped out to a quick lead and never looked back as their pressure defense and strong post play, along with hot outside shooting from Katie Myhre and Jess Newman, were too much for the Spartans to handle. The Bombers created a total of 29 Nashwauk-Keewatin turnovers.

Barnum scored the first basket on a three-pointer from Katie Myhre at the 13:48 mark of the first half. Both teams had several shots during the first several minutes, but neither team could get it going offensively. Jonnie
Anderson scored the first basket for the Spartans to cut the lead to 3-2, but Barnum answered right back scoring the next seven points to lead 10-2. N-K scored only their second basket of the game at the 9:40 mark of the first half. Pressure defense forced several turnovers, which resulted in 12 points in the first half alone.

Barnum continued to roll offensively, going on a 15-0 run to raise their lead to 21 at 25-4. The Barnum defense held the Spartans to only four points until the 2:13 mark where N-K scored seven points to Barnum’s two points to close out the half at 27-11.

Elizabeth Sletten scored the first basket of the second half to cut Barnum’s lead to 14 points, but that’s as close as they came in the second half. The Bombers cruised to build a lead of as many as 30 late in the second half. Katrina Newman, who led all scorers with 22 points, scored 15 of them in the second half because the Spartans could not stop her inside moves. When Newman was scoring inside, Katie Myhre and Jess Newman continued to connect on three pointers. The Bombers ended with the 32-point win.

The Bombers will now face Parkers Prairie, who defeated Southwest Minnesota Christian 54-50 Thursday afternoon. The win improves the Bombers overall record to 29-2 on the season. The Spartans end their season with an overall record of 23-5.

The Bombers were led in scoring by Katrina Newman with 22 points, Jess Newman added 13, Katie Myhre chipped in with 12, and Leah Nordvall had 4. Sarah Myhre and Claire Rodgers each ended with 2 points in the victory. Sletten led the Spartans in scoring with 11 points on the afternoon.

Dwight Cadwell can be reached at dwight@northlandsportsonline.com