Minnewaukan-Leeds coach Travis Risovi knew his team couldn’t afford to play catch-up to a talented Carrington squad.

Unfortunately, that’s exactly what happened. The No. 2 seeded Cardinals led 20-7 after one quarter and followed that up with a 17-3 second quarter to roll to a 55-35 win over the No. 3 Lions in the first round of the Region 4 Tournament on Feb. 22 in Devils Lake.

“We just had a bad first half,’ Risovi said. “The game was tied 7-7 and then all of a sudden they just went on a big run.”

M-L, which finished 12-11, had little answer to stop Carrington’s offense led by Sierra Rosenau and Becca Sherr who scored 18 and 13 points respectively.

The Lions did rebound to give a spirited effort in the second half even though the outcome was determined. “I was proud of our girls for their play in the second half. We left the court with decent taste in our mouth.”

Sophomore Dorothia Santos led the Lions with 17 points.

The loss not only ended M-L’s season, but it was the final game of the seven-year co-op between the two schools. Leeds will co-op with Maddock for girls basketball next season.

“You always have to give that end-of-year speech in the locker room, but it was harder knowing this was the last one,’ Risovi said.

The co-op enjoyed much success in those seven years, highlighted by a region championship in 2007 and a fifth place showing at the Class B state tournament. The team was region runner-up in 2008 and played in three consecutive district championship games, winning two. The squad also posted five straight winning seasons.

“It was a good run,’ Risovi said.