The NRHEG girls’ basketball team scored almost as many points in the first half as Waterville-Elysian-Morristown had in the entire game.

The Panthers led 37-23 at halftime and beat the Buccaneers 75-39 on Tuesday.

Carlie Wagner led NRHEG with 44 points. Marnie Wagner added nine points, 10 rebounds, five steals and seven assists and Paige Overgaard scored nine points and grabbed six rebounds.

The Panthers beat the Bucs 35-22 on the glass and had 13 more steals.

However, NRHEG also had 17 turnovers.

The Panthers are the defending Class AA state champions, and NRHEG head coach John Schultz said there is room for improvement.

“WEM did a nice job defending and making us work for our points,” he said. “They were physical. We fouled way too much and did not work hard enough on defense.”

The Panthers (12-0 overall, 6-0 Gopher Conference) have won their last 42 games dating back to December 1, 2012.

Waterville-Elysian-Morristown fell to 7-5 overall.

Next, the Panthers, ranked No. 1 in Class AA, will host Blooming Prairie (10-1 overall, 5-0 Gopher Conference) at 7:15 p.m. Friday.

Statistics are in the Scoreboard: Jan. 14 post.