Defense again paved the way for an Austin win as the Packer girls' basketball team posted a 55-42 victory over St. Paul Johnson in Thursday's opening round at the Columbia Heights Holiday Tournament.

Austin outscored the Governors 19-7 in a deciding fourth quarter. The Packers led by one entering the frame but did it with defense again in getting their fourth consecutive win.

"The defense has been a big part of our success," said Packer coach Gary Peterson. "You never know how you're going to play after the holidays. We just played better basketball in the fourth quarter."

Austin had a six-point lead at the half and upped it to 10 after the start of the third quarter, but St. Paul Johnson jumped back and took a one-point lead, 31-30, with 11 consecutive points.

Junior Lisa Bue tallied 21 points, 14 rebounds and five steals in "her best game of the year" according to Coach Peterson.

"We hit some shots and played some pretty good defense in that last quarter," Peterson added. "We were missing quite a few shots in the first half."

Austin shot 34 percent from the floor in the game but made up for it with a 38-32 rebounding advantage and only 12 turnovers.

Steph Eslinger added 14 points for the Packers, who play Minneapolis Edison tonight at 6 p.m. in the semifinals.

Boxscore:

Austin12141019--55

Johnson119157--42

AUSTIN -- Caitlin Jurgensen 0, Brittney Erichson 5, Nicole Turvey 0, Amy Kelly 8, Keri Feller 2, Steph Eslinger 14, Kelly Momsen 0, Laura Geffert 5, Lisa Bue 21.