Stewartville Ends Zumbrota-Mazeppa Girls Basketball Season

The Section 1AA top seed Stewartville Tigers defeated Zumbrota-Mazeppa 78-73 Saturday in semi-final action at the Rochester Mayo Civic Auditorium.  6'2 freshman Erin Lamb put on a display of offense and defense that will have people buzzing for years to come.

Lamb poured in 34 points and added some blocked shots in the Tigers victory.  She had 20 points in the first half and ended the game with five three point baskets.  Lamb was virtually unstoppable, seemingly scoring at will.  In fact there were a few stretches in the game when the Stewartville diaper dandy didn't touch the ball during multiple offensive sets.

Zumbrota-Mazeppa finished the game with nine three point baskets and Stewartville eight.  Both teams scored 12 points at the free throw line.

I also had 12 turnovers for each team.  That's how close the game ended but Stewartville was in control virtually from start to finish.

The halftime score was Stewartville 47 Zumbrota-Mazeppa 36.

If you like offense this was the game to watch although both Lamb and Cougar center Lauren Miller had multiple shot blocks in the game.

Zumbrota-Mazeppa had four players in double figures led by 5'8 senior Lyndsey Quam and 5'5 junior reserve Hannah Mensink with 15 points each.  6'1 sophomore Ali Hunstad added 13 points and Miller 12 in the game.

In addition to Lamb's 34 points, 5'9 sophomore Lily Welch added 11 for Stewartville.

The Cougars ended their season 20-7 and Stewartville will advance to tangle with Byron after extending their record to 22-5.

The #3 seed Byron Bears defeated #2 seed Rochester Lourdes 77-71 in the other semi-final contest.

Stewartville Head Coach Ryan Liffrig is a Zumbrota-Mazeppa graduate and told KDHL following the game the Tigers wins over Byron happened when their outstanding 6'5 post Ayoka Lee was not in the lineup.

Stewartville and Byron will play 8:00 p.m. Friday for a berth into the State Girls Basketball Tournament.