Austin Packers girls’ basketball routs Faribault in Section 1AAA quarterfinals 72-17

The Austin Packers girls’ basketball team, the No. 1 seed in the Section 1AAA tournament and winners of five out of their last six coming into the tournament played host to No. 8 seed Faribault in the tournament quarterfinals at Ove Berven Gym Wednesday evening, and senior guards Hope and Emma Dudycha each tallied 24 points to lead ten Packers overall who broke into the scoring column in a 72-17 win.

Austin bolted out to a 20-4 lead to start the game and finished the half on a 23-3 run to lead 43-7 at the half.  The Packers showed no let-up in the second half as they forced 30 Faribault turnovers in the game, and pushed their lead to over 50 points on their way to the win.

Besides the 24 points apiece for Hope and Emma Dudycha, Ajiem Agwa provided six points off the Austin bench, Cassidy Schute tallied four points, Olivia Walsh and Isabella Weideman each chipped in three points, Kiru Othow, Reana Schmitt and Nyabol Mouwal all scored two points apiece and Marie Tolbert and Ruby Kvam each tallied one point for the Packers, who moved to 22-5 on the season with the lopsided win.

Austin moves on to the Section 1AAA semi-finals where they will meet No. 4 seed Byron back at Ove Berven Gym Saturday night at 7:00 p.m.  The Bears defeated No. 5 seed Kasson/Mantorville 55-41 to advance.  The other semi-final matchup in Section 1AAA Saturday night will pit No. 6 Albert Lea, who knocked off third-seeded Red Wing 61-52 against No. 2 Stewartville, who defeated No. 7 Winona 60-34.  You’ll hear the Austin/Byron matchup right here on AM 1480 KAUS, with the Austin Packers pre-game show getting underway at 6:45 p.m. Saturday evening, with tip-off at 7:00 p.m.