ALDEN – Coach Mark Henrich was proud of the comeback made by the Alden-Conger Knights.

Wednesday, January 16, 2002

ALDEN – Coach Mark Henrich was proud of the comeback made by the Alden-Conger Knights.

But the deficit was too much to overcome.

The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva Panthers raced to a 29-11 lead at the end of the first quarter and went on to win 62-45 in a Gopher Conference girls’ basketball game at Alden Tuesday night.

&uot;The girls played hard, they got back into it, but we just couldn’t get over the top,&uot; said Henrich, whose team fell to 1-5 in the conference and 4-10 overall.

It was the first conference win of the season for NRHEG (1-5, 4-10), which was coming off an overtime loss at Medford on Friday.

&uot;We were hoping to get that one and start a little winning streak, but we’ll take this,&uot; said Panthers coach Mindy Sparby. &uot;Our girls really set the tone tonight with 29 points in the first quarter. We’ve had some games when we’ve barely been in the 30s.&uot;

Many of the first-quarter points came on easy baskets as the Knights committed turnovers against the Panthers’ full-court pressure.

The Panthers went on to lead 33-23 at halftime and 44-33 after three quarters.

Camille Kyte led NRHEG with 21 points, eight rebounds and six steals. Erin Anderson had 17 points, six rebounds, four steals and four assists, Kelli Schlaak 14 points, four rebounds, four steals and four assists. Rachel Andree had eight points and four steals.

Megan Peterson netted 15 points for the Knights. Nicole Krueger scored 10, Tasha Lackey six.

The Panthers, who outrebounded the Knights 30-26, were 24-for-59 from the floor and 14-for-30 on free throws while Alden-Conger went 22-for-45 and 1-for-1. NRHEG had 16 turnovers, 11 less than the Knights.

The Panthers travel to LeRoy-Ostrander for a nonconference game Thursday. The Knights play Friday at Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton.