Third Time is a Playoff Charm; Medford Plays at NRHEG Tuesday

Gopher Conference rivals Medford and New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva meet Tuesday night March 1 in a subsection playoff game at 7 pm in New Richland. The Panthers are the second seed, while the Tigers are seeded seventh. There's reason to believe it could be a closer game than those numbers might lead you to believe. Both coaches are preaching patience for their teams on offense.

Medford beat NRHEG 74-68 in early January and takes a solid 14-12 record into the postseason. The Panthers earned a split of the season series with a 63-49 victory over Medford in early February. The Panthers (18-9) won the West Division of the Gopher Conference and gave unbeaten Hayfield a couple of their closer battles of the season.

Tigers coach Mark Kubat knows the Panthers can score a lot, "We just gotta try to slow them down a little bit. And try to take away a couple things they try to do, be patient on offense. If we can do those things, I think we've got a chance to hang around with them a little bit."

Panthers coach Onika Peterson counters, "Anytime we can move the ball well on offense, we're going to be a little more successful...(against WEM recently) by moving it we were getting better open looks. It's definitely going to be key for us not forcing up shots. And then defensively, knowing who their heavy-hitters are where they are in their offense and not losing them."

Schedule for girls basketball, Section 2AA
Tuesday, March 1
South Subsection
No. 7 Medford at No. 2 NRHEG
No. 6 WEM at No. 3 Maple River
No. 5 Waseca at No. 4 St. Clair
No. 8 Blue Earth Area at No. 1 Lake Crystal-Welcome Memorial
North subsection
No. 1 Glencoe-Silver Lake, first-round bye
No. 5 Tri-City United at No. 4 Southwest Christian
No. 7 LeSueur-Henderson at No. 2 Norwood-Young America
No. 6 Sibley East at No. 3 Belle Plaine
South subsection semifinals, March 3 at Mankato East High School
North subsection semifinals, March 3 at New Prague High School
Subsection finals, March 7 at MSU-Mankato
Section championship, March 11 at MSU-Mankato