Barnum rode the 24-point effort of Colleen McKay to a 50-37 win over Southwest Christian on Friday giving the Bombers their ninth win of the season.
"It was a grind-it-out type of game," said Barnum assistant coach Jerry Erickson. "We didn't get out to a big lead right away and the lead was single digits for most of the first half, but we were able to hit a couple of shots right before halftime to build the lead."
Barnum took a 33-17 lead into the locker room at halftime and then used a strong defense to preserve that advantage.
Both teams have dominating centers and while McKay was pouring in her 24 points, her counterpart for Southwest Christian, Cassie Haag, hit for 20 points. McKay handled the chore of guarding Haag while SC used a double team to try and slow down the slick McKay.
"That's how it is in most of our games," mentioned Erickson of the double team on McKay. "Most teams figure that their best chance of beating us is to stop Colleen."
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The Bombers also did a nice job of taking what was given to them by the defense as they also hit four three-pointers in the game.
Katrina Newman had a solid game for Barnum with eight points, Megan Myhre, Leah Nordval and Jessica Benson each finished with five points and Jamie Wickstrom scored three points.
At 9-0 the Bombers are ranked No. 4 in the Minnesota Class A Girls Basketball Poll.
Pine Journal sports reporter Kerry Rodd can be contacted at: kdrodd@aol.com .
