MMCRU girls fall short of repeat trip to state

(Photo By Charlie Hildebrand) MMCRU senior Kora Alesch looks to drive against the West Sioux defense on Tuesday. Alesch led the team with 23 points in the season-ending loss.

MARCUS — The MMCRU girls basketball team will not be making a repeat trip to the state tournament. The defending Class 1A runner-up lost a close 48-47 contest to West Sioux in Tuesday’s Class 2A regional quarterfinal contest.

The Royals had a chance with an inbounds in front of their bench with 1.5 seconds left in the game, but senior Kora Alesch was unable to get a shot off before the buzzer sounded after the inbounds play as the team’s season came to an end.

Alesch was the lone returning starter from last year’s runner-up team and helped the Royals put together another double digit win campaign despite having to replace lots of experience which included three 1,000 point scorers.

Alesch, who led the team with 23 points in the game, was joined by classmates Avery Schlenger (8 points) and Isabelle Olson (4 points) for what would be their final game together.

Jadyn Young ended with nine points and Kennedy Tentinger rounded out the scoring with three points.

Addi Dekkers led the Falcons with 18 points which all came on six 3-pointers in the game. Molly Hulshof was the team’s other double digit score with 13 points.

The game was the second of the season between the two teams to come down to the wire. MMCRU won the War Eagle Conference matchup by a 49-46 score on Jan. 27. It was the first win for the Falcons in the series since January 2018. The Royals had won five in a row between the West Sioux’s wins.

The Royals end the season with a 14-7 record. West Sioux (10-12) advances to play No. 2 ranked Central Lyon (20-0) in Friday’s regional semifinal round.