By John RittenhouseA pair of youth basketball teams from Adrian mixed it up with some of the state’s best squads during different tournaments at St. Benedict University in St. Joseph Saturday and Sunday.The Adrian eighth-grade girls’ squad competed in the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday.The seventh-grade girls’ team played in the Minnesota State Pacesetter Tournament on Sunday.The eighth-grade girls (some of the girls on the team are seventh-graders) formed one of four teams playing in the Minnesota Invitational on Saturday.Adrian qualified for the event by placing second at the Region 3 Pacesetter Tournament in Marshall April 10.The young Dragons defeated Wabasso, Hancock and Willmar (in two overtimes) before falling to Marshall in the region championship game.All four eighth-grade teams played three pool games (16-minute halves) on Saturday, and the results of pool competition were used to seed the teams for 32-minute games in the tournament.Adrian lost its first two pool games by scores of 21-18 and 6-5 to Kingsland and New London-Spicer respectively. The Dragons earned the third seed for the tournament by defeating Lake Park-Audubon 17-11 in the pool finale.With Sam Lynn scoring 14 points to lead the way, Adrian avenged its pool loss to NL-S by upsetting the second seed 33-22 in the semifinals.The win sent Adrian to the championship game, where it lost a 32-23 decision to Kingsland. Kayla Bullerman netted eight points to lead the Dragons in the title tilt.Adrian, which has compiled a 32-11 record since last December, will play two more tournaments this summer before its season is complete.The seventh-grade girls went 1-2 and placed seventh in an eight-team field at the Minnesota State Pacesetter Tournament in St. Joseph on Sunday.Adrian qualified for the tournament by winning the Region 3 Tournament in Marshall April 17.The Dragons disposed of Worthington, Morris, Chokio-Alberta and Marshall in the region attraction.Adrian’s Kayla Wiertzema scored 10 points in Sunday’s state opener against Detroit Lakes, but it wasn’t enough to keep the Dragons from dropping a 31-24 decision.Rochester Lourdes topped Adrian 31-15 in the first round of consolation play. Erica Thier scored eight points to lead the Dragons in the loss.Adrian secured a 32-18 victory over Esko in the game for seventh- and eighth-place. Sam Lynn, Thier and Wiertzema scored 11, 10 and nine points respectively in the finale.The seventh-graders finish the campaign with a 31-3 record.
