Tara Hendrickson scored a career-high 32 points to surpass 1,000 in her career as a member of the Menahga girls basketball team during a 70-55 victory over Lake Park-Audubon in the regular-season finale at Menahga on Tuesday, Feb. 18.
Hendrickson followed a putback by Janie Tormanen by hitting a free throw to reach 1,000 points as the Braves trailed 4-3. Two layups by Hendrickson, a layup off a steal by Maryn Pinoniemi an da layup by Tormanen gave Menahga an 11-8 lead. Two layups by Tormanen and 3-pointers by Pinoniemi and Hendrickson provided a 28-22 edge before LP-A rallied to take a 32-29 lead. A jumper by Pinoniemi and a layup by Lela Peterson gave the Braves a 33-32 lead at the half.
The Raiders opened the second half by claiming a 36-33 lead before Pinoniemi hit two 3-pointers and scored off a steal to spark a 12-0 run and give Menahga a 45-36 advantage. Five layups and a 3-pointer capped off Hendrickson’s historic night as the Braves built a 66-51 advantage.
Hendrickson hauled down 11 rebounds for a double-double while Pinoniemi (18) and Tormanen (12) also scored in double figures. Tormanen had nine rebounds, four assists and three steals while Hendrickson had four steals and joined Annie Lake with three assists. The win gave Menahga a 19-7 record and seven-game winning streak entering the Section 8AA playoffs.
Pederson finished with 25 points as LP-A fell to 13-12.
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Menahga received the No. 4 seed in the South and will open the Section 8AA playoffs by hosting No. 5 Frazee on Thursday night (Feb. 27) at 7 p.m. Frazee defeated the Braves 48-46 on Dec. 7. The winner of that game will advance to play at Concordia College on Saturday, Feb. 29, at 1 p.m.
LAKE PARK-AUDUBON: Olson 4 1-2 11, G. Schauer 0 2-2 2, Mattson 0 0-1 0, Pederson 8 7-10 25, Roy 4 1-2 9, B. Schauer 10 -0 2, Miosek 1 4-4 6. Totals: 18 for 42 (FG), 15 for 21 (FT).
MENAHGA: K. Hendrickson 0 0-0 0, Pinoniemi 6 3-4 18, L. Peterson 1 0-0 2, T. Hendrickson 10 10-14 32, J. Tormanen 6 0-0 12, J. Hendrickson 0 0-0 0, E. Tormanen 0 0-0 0, An. Lake 0 2-2 2, Pfeifer 2 0-0 4. Totals: 25 for 56 (FG), 15 for 20 (FT).
Halftime: Menahga 33, LP-A 32. Three-pointers: Olson 2, Pederson 2, Pinoniemi 3, T. Hendrickson 2. Team fouls: LP-A 15, Menahga 16. Rebounds: Menahga 31 (T. Hendrickson 11, J. Tormanen 9, PInoniemi 4, K. Hendrickson 2, L. Peterson 2, Pfeifer 2, An. Lake 1). Assists: Menahga 15 (J. Tormanen 4, An. Lake 3, T. Hendrickson 3, L.Petrson 2, Pinoniemi 2, K. Hendrickson 1). Steals: Menahga 14 (T. Hendrickson 4, Pinoniemi 3, J. Tormanen 3, K. Hendrickson 2, L. Peterson 1, Pfeifer 1). Blocked shots: Menahga 3 (K. Hendrickson 1, T. Hendrickson 1, J. Tormanen 1). Turnovers: LP-A 29, Menahga 23.
