Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Payton Bradley of St. Edmond shoots against Webster City on Tuesday. For more photos, please visit CU.messengernews.net

Tuesday night was just the kind of performance CJ Tracy wanted out of his St. Edmond girls heading into the start of postseason play.

The Gaels honored their seniors and concluded the regular season inside the SEHS gym with a 57-50 victory over Webster City.

Payton Bradley, Josie Harvey and Braelynn Rees combined for 25 points on the night, as St. Edmond (6-14 overall, 2-10 in the North Central Conference) gained more momentum heading into Thursday’s Class 1A opener versus Paton-Churdan.

“You saw things we’ve worked really hard on over these last four years come out,” Tracy said. “Those girls are the ones who have helped build this foundation we have in place for what we want this program to become. We didn’t do everything correct, but we did what we needed to do to get the win.

“We’ve been in a lot of close games recently, so to get a win in a close one should give them confidence moving forward.”

Along with Bradley and Harvey reaching double figures in scoring, sophomore Chloe Palmer added a team-high 16 points with junior Anna Lursen chipping in nine with six rebounds. Another 10th-grader, Sophia Schlienz, had six points off the bench.

“Sophia was so huge for us,” Tracy said. “She came right in, knocked down a big 3-pointer and had another key bucket. Her ability to do those things for us are going to be important here moving forward into the postseason.”

For Webster City (3-17, 1-11), Marissa Hedeen had a game-high 23 points, including six 3-pointers. Olivia Gallentine added 14 with a pair of triples.

The Lynx held the lead after the opening quarter, overcoming several turnovers to take a 12-6 advantage. St. Edmond, though, would chip away from the deficit, taking a three-point cushion into the break.

Bradley had five in the pivotal third which saw Webster City sink four 3-pointers. But the Gaels committed just one turnover during that time, compared to six by the Lynx.

“I’m not sure if it were nerves early or what,” Tracy said. “It took us a little while to get into a rhythm, but once we did, we played very well on both sides of the ball. Chloe really carried us on offense early on (Palmer scored all six in the first quarter and had 11 in the opening half).”

St. Edmond will now host Paton-Churdan (1-19) back here on Thursday in a Region 3 first round contest beginning at 7 p.m.

ST. EDMOND 57, WEBSTER CITY 50

St. Edmond — Anna Lursen 3 3-3 9, Payton Bradley 5 2-2 14, Chloe Palmer 7 2-5 16, Braelynn Rees 0 0-0 0, Josie Harvey 4 1-4 11, Abby Huss 0 1-2 1, Sophia Schlienz 2 1-4 6, Maggie Flaherty 0 0-0 0, Ava Bradley 0 0-0 0, Jade Rock 0 0-0 0. Totals: 21 10-20 57.

Webster City — Marissa Hedeen 8 4-6 23, Olivia Gallentine 6 0-0 14, Tristyn Wright 0 2-2 2, Lovie Prusimann 1 1-2 4, Avery Poppen 0 0-0 0, Evie Davis 1 2-2 4, Alivia Burns 0 0-2 0, Isabel Grossoehme 0 0-0 0, Jaylyn Bahrenfuss 0 0-0 0. Totals: 16 9-14 50.

Quarter scores: Webster City led 12-6; St. Edmond led 27-24, 42-38. Three-point goals: St. Edmond 5 (P. Bradley 2, Harvey 1, Schlienz), Webster City 9 (Hedeen 6, Gallentine 2, Pruismann). Total rebounds: St. Edmond 29, Webster City 35. Steals: St. Edmond 16, Webster City 8. Blocked shots: St. Edmond 1, Webster City 5. Turnovers: St. Edmond 13, Webster City 26. Team fouls: St. Edmond 15, Webster City 17. Fouled out: Lursen.