When the New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva boys’ basketball team met Blue Earth Monday night in New Richland it became clear early on that whichever team played better in the post was going to prevail.

The Panthers (5-8, 3-3) weren’t that team in a 70-57 loss to the Buccaneers as early foul trouble and turnovers handcuffed them throughout the game.

The game opened with each team exchanging baskets inside. NRHEG’s 6-foot-6 starting forward Cory Camerer paced the Panthers early, scoring the first six points for NRHEG. He was matched by Garrett Anderson who scored the first 10 points for Blue Earth.

Camerer got in foul trouble quickly, picking up two fouls in the first six minutes of play and found himself on the sidelines for an extended stretch.

The Bucs (6-5, 2-1) took advantage and built an 11-point lead in Camerer’s absence.

Camerer re-entered the game and scored two straight baskets to close the gap to 22-18 in the first half, but Anderson became too much for the Panthers to handle inside as he finished the half with 16 points and 24 for the game.

“That’s their strong point,” said Panthers head coach Brian Riley. “We just got in too many fouls with our big guys. Take them out and they’re going to make some hay down low.”

To make matters worse NRHEG’s other starting forward, 6-foot-5 Tyler Firme landed in foul trouble in the first half as well. Firme picked up his third foul of the game with 21 seconds left in the first half as he saw his playing time decrease significantly.

Camerer and Firme led the Panthers in scoring with 19 and 10, respectively, but both played with four fouls for the majority of the second half.

“They can play with the best of them,” Riley said of Camerer and Firme. “The biggest thing tonight is keeping them on the floor.”

While Anderson was a menace down low in the first half, Nathan Carr was wreaking havoc in transition, helping Blue Earth take advantage of 16 NRHEG turnovers. Carr led all scorers with 26 points.

“We get rid of the turnovers I think then we could get better possessions offensively,” Riley said. “You give up the ball 16 times, that’s 16 shots you don’t get at the basket.”

With Camerer and Firme out the Bucs were able to control the interior as the Panthers were forced to play with a smaller lineup.

“Our post defense needed to be improved a little bit,” Riley said. That’s something we’ve been working on all year.”

The win gave Blue Earth its fourth consecutive win after losing five straight games.

The Panthers face Randolph Tuesday in New Richland.

Blue Earth Area 70, NRHEG 57

BEA 33 37 — 70

NRHEG 26 31 — 57

BEA scoring: Nathan Carr 26, Garrett Anderson 24, Nick Lee 11, Riley Holmseth 5, Jared Smith 2, Dalton Hurn 2.

NRHEG scoring: Cory Camerer 19, Tyler Firme 10, Keith Billing 8, Payden Peterson 6, Brett Hagen 5, Hunter Eustice 5, Greg Ramaker 4.