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ADAMS – Despite being shorthanded and undersized, the Southland girls basketball team did not back down against the Burros. 

However, the Rebels ran out of gas down the stretch as they lost 56-45 to Lanesboro Thursday.

The Rebels (4-14 overall) led 25-18 late in the first half, but Lanesboro’s Hailey Erickson converted a three-point play to bring the Burros (10-11 overall) within 26-25 early in the second half. Southland went back up 30-25 on a pair of free throws by freshman Clara Timm, but foul trouble to Timm and sophomore Emma Lewison ultimately cost the Rebels, who were already missing sophomore post player Juliette Mathies to injury.

After getting to within 35-33 on a score by Breeley Galle with 9:35 left in the game, Southland hit a five-minute scoring slump as the Burros scored the next 10 points. 

“We had so many opportunities. We showed fight tonight and we worked really hard tonight. That’s a positive moving forward,” Southland head coach Matt Webber said. “Give (Lanesboro) credit and they took advantage of (our foul trouble).”

Southland didn’t play any seniors and the team was relying on a big group of sophomores and freshmen throughout the night. One of those sophomores was Galle, who finished with 16 points and four rebounds.

“We’ve worked really hard in practice and we hope it carries over to games. We always try to give 100 percent, even if the matchups aren’t going our way,” Galle said. “We’ve always been undersized and Juliette is our tallest player. It makes it tougher when she’s not there. We just have to be aggressive and use our bodies under the basket.”

Sophomore Shannon Kiefer finished with 10 points and eight rebounds for Southland.

The Rebels have lost five straight games.

Lanesboro 20  36  – 56

Southland 25  20  –  45

Southland scoring: Breeley Galle, 16; Shannon Kiefer, 10; Avery Stroup, 6; Clara Timm, 5; Maren Wehrenberg, 4; Grace Kresbach, 2; Emma Lewison, 1