ST. CLAIR &045; Mankato East topped the NRHEG girls’ basketball in the first round of the St. Clair invitational tournament 45-37 Tuesday night.

Emily Hagen led the Panthers with 13 points and seven rebounds. Traci Nelson was the only other Panther to reach double figures with 12.

The Cougars led throughout most of the game, but NRHEG allowed only two points by East in the third quarter, and opened up a 33-29 lead at the end of the third. NRHEG netted only four points in the final period while the Cougars put the game away with 16.