Photo by Jake McNeill: Yellow Medicine East forward Bailey Mortenson (center) beats a group of MACCRAY Wolverines to a loose ball during a 3A North subsection quarterfinal girls basketball game on Saturday afternoon at Montevideo High School.

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MONTEVIDEO — Despite a valiant first-half effort, the seventh-seeded Yellow Medicine East girls basketball team didn’t have the firepower to keep pace with No. 2 MACCRAY in the 3A North subsection quarterfinals on Saturday afternoon. The Sting were within 6 points of the Wolverines in the final three minutes of the first half, but MACCRAY went into halftime with momentum and finished with a 76-48 win.

For the bulk of the first half, YME played the Wolverines tight. Facing an 11-point deficit, Bayli Sneller knocked down a 3, came away with a steal near midcourt and hit the layup in transition to cut MACCRAY’s cushion to 22-16.

The Sting had the opportunity to make it a 4-point game, but when their shot didn’t fall, MACCRAY capitalized. The Wolverines finished the half on a 10-3 run, capped off by a buzzer-beater floater from Emma Thein, to go into halftime with a 32-19 advantage.

Out of halftime, the two teams went scoreless for two-and-a-half minutes before MACCRAY locked in.

The Wolverines scored 8 unanswered points to start the half; after Sneller broke up the run with a 3-pointer, MACCRAY scored another 10 unanswered to bolster their lead up to 49-24.

MACCRAY scored the game’s first 3 points over two possessions and eventually expanded its lead to 10-3 before Sneller hit a 3-pointer and the Sting called a timeout. The Wolverines knocked down a trifecta out of the huddle, but back-to-back baskets from Bailey Mortenson made it a 3-point game, 13-10.

As the second half progressed, MACCRAY eventually extended its lead to as many as 34 points.

Yellow Medicine East finishes its season at 9-18, a two-win improvement from the previous year. The Sting have the opportunity to make another leap next season when they return their full roster except for lone senior Klaira Shackelford.