NEW RICHLAND &045; The final score may have been close, but the rest of the game wasn’t.

The New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva girls’ basketball team led 42-18 with three minutes remaining and held on for an easy 50-41 victory in a sub-section tournament game at New Richland Monday night.

Emily Hagen and Steph Hanna led the Panthers with 12 poins apiece. Chelsey Quiram and Jasmine Brouwers added six points each.

The top-seeded Panthers, 23-3, play Montgomery-Lonsdale or Triton Thursday at 6 p.m. at Waseca. The winner plays for the sub-section championship Monday at 7:45 at Minnesota State-Mankato.