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St. Edmond 48, Iowa Falls-Alden 38

St. Edmond - Theresa Doyle 2-7 0-0 4, Allie Bianchi 1-5 0-0 2, Aubreigh Yetmar 1-11 2-2 4, Kaitlyn Barrett 3-7 3-10 9, Alison Nagel 6-17 8-10 20, Lydia Harvey 4-11 1-1 9, Jenny Kersten 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Drzycimski 0-0 0-0 0. Totals: 17-58 14-23 48.

Iowa Falls-Alden - Lexa Janes 3-8 0-2 6, Ashley Smith 0-3 5-6 5, Katie Geitz 6-9 0-2 12, Aly Smith 3-4 3-4 9, Kylie Marquis 0-4 0-0 0, Jaime Peterson 2-9 0-0 4, Libby Wilwert 0-8 2-2 2, Paige Weidemann 0-1 0-0 0, Kallie Lyman 0-1 0-0 0, Hannah Krogh 0-1 0-0 0. Totals: 14-48 10-16 38.

Quarter scores: St. Edmond led 12-9, 24-15, 33-21. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 0-10 (Doyle 0-2, Bianchi 0-1, Yetmar 0-1, Barrett 0-1, Nagel 0-3, Harvey 0-2); Iowa Falls-Alden 0-11 (Janes 0-3, Ashley Smith 0-1, Marquis 0-1. Peterson 0-4, Wilwert 0-1, Krogh 0-1). Total rebounds: St. Edmond 39, Iowa Falls-Alden 33. Turnovers: St. Edmond 16, Iowa Falls-Alden 26. Total fouls: St. Edmond 17, Iowa Falls-Alden 19. Fouled out: Bianchi, Doyle.

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It was far from pretty and didn't go nearly as scripted.

Yet Scott Messerly's St. Edmond girls basketball team still found a way to win again here Tuesday.

Despite a lackluster shooting performance, the Gaels (4-1 overall, 4-1 NCC) scratched and clawed their way to a 48-38 home triumph over North Central Conference foe Iowa Falls-Alden (3-4, 3-2) inside the SEHS gym.

"I'm not real sure why, but we just didn't have that extra boost (last night)," Messerly said. "We were a step slow and struggled to gain any momentum, but the bottom line is we survived.

"I'm thrilled to death with the victory."

The Gaels connected on only 17 of 58 (29.3 percent) attempts from the field and finished 0-for-10 from beyond the arc.

"We had a very tough night offensively," said Messerly. "It's a credit to our kids for hanging in there and making enough plays down the stretch."

Alison Nagel's two free throws staked St. Edmond to a 12-9 edge after one quarter of play, and the green and white opened the second on a mini 6-0 flurry behind consecutive layups from senior Kaitlyn Barrett and Nagel.

"We were getting some quality looks early on," Messerly said. "But as the game tightened up, nobody wanted to shoot anymore."

Back-to-back buckets from Aly Smith and Jaime Peterson briefly stemmed the tide for the Cadets, however, the Gaels responded by scoring the last four points before the break.

"It was important to extend our lead a little bit at the half," said Messerly. "(Iowa Falls-Alden) never believed they were out of it, though, and continued to battle."

Relying on their swarming defense, the gritty Cadets held SEHS scoreless for five-plus minutes to start the third period and sliced the deficit to just three at 24-21.

Barrett's driving hoop finally broke the drought for the Gaels at the 2:45 mark, and Lydia Harvey's tip-in ballooned the St. Edmond advantage to 33-21 entering the fourth.

"Kaitlyn and Lydia kind of carried us in the second half," Messerly said. "We needed all of their contributions, too."

With starting guards Allie Bianchi and Theresa Doyle both forced to the bench with five fouls, the Gaels needed seven late points from Nagel to ultimately slam the door on the Cadets.

"With all the snow days we've had recently, we're not in the best shape right now," said Messerly. "This was a great learning experience for us to build off."

Nagel ignited St. Edmond with 20 points and 11 rebounds. Barrett and Harvey each added nine points.

Katie Geitz paced Iowa Falls-Alden with 12 points and nine boards.

The Gaels visit Clear Lake on Friday for a girl-boy doubleheader.

Contact Josh Meyer at (515) 573-2141, or by e-mail at sportS@messengernews.net