On Thursday, February 24, the Garretson Lady Dragons headed to Harrisburg to take on Sioux Falls Christian in the second round of the Region 3A tournament. Despite fighting hard against the Chargers, the Dragons lost 32-49.
Hopes were high for the Blue Dragons, as they'd had a solid year so far with a season score of 13-8. They had prevailed against Madison two days before in the first round of the tournament, winning 52-21.
With Sioux Falls Christian, the Dragons were hoping to avenge a loss earlier this season, and starting out the teams were evenly matched.
The first two points went to Sioux Falls Christian, but an epic pass from Mya Long through Logan Bly, Lily Ranschau, Jaelyn Benson, Anna Jones, and back to Long resulted in Garretson's first basket of the evening. A solid steal by Jones netted the Dragons the lead.
Throughout the rest of the quarter, the teams jockeyed back and forth, ending the quarter 9-9.
At the start of the 2nd quarter, however, Sioux Falls Christian came out charging. Despite a solid fight by the Dragons, including a corner shot by Bly and solid 2-pointer by Sydney Olson, the Chargers soon stole the lead and didn't let go.
The teams entered the half 14-20, and during the third quarter, the Chargers kept widening the gap. The Dragons fought hard, including a nearly half-court shot by Bly and a corner shot by Kylie Christiansen. With six seconds left in the quarter, Long netted the Dragons two more points, and Olson capitalized on a foul with a free throw. However, a last-ditch shot by Sioux Falls Christian was good, and the quarter ended 27-33.
The fourth quarter started with a half-court shot by Sioux Falls Christian, netting them another three points. They continued to hold the Dragons down, playing solid on the defense and taking the fight out of the team.
Garretson wasn't completely out of the fight though, as they capitalized on some fouls and hit the nets with the free throws, netting six more points. However, they couldn't hold against the Chargers as the opposing team turned on the offense and gathered thirteen more points.
The game ended when Sioux Falls Christian took back the ball with four seconds left in the game, ending the Blue Dragon season 32-49.
