ALGONA — The St. Edmond girls put forth a strong second half effort here Tuesday night but were unable to solve No. 8 (Class 3A) Algona, falling 77-34.

The Bulldogs (3-2 overall, 3-0 in North Central Conference) built a commanding 21-3 lead after the first and led 36-10 at the break.

“We were getting looks but the shots just wouldn’t fall there in the first half,” SEHS head coach CJ Tracy said. “The score really wasn’t a reflection of how the game was. Algona made us work for everything and we just couldn’t get a bucket to drop.

“In the third quarter, we were able to finally get them to drop. It wasn’t really about us changing anything, the shots just started to fall.”

Payton Bradley led the way for the Gaels, scoring 14 points, as Sophia Schlienz and Abby Huss each had five. Josie Harvey and Chloe Palmer scored four, with Anna Lursen adding two.

St. Edmond scored 19 points in the second quarter but were held to just five over the final eight minutes.

“They are the defending NCC champs and make you work for it,” Tracy said. “That is a very good team and we battled with them.”

Lauren McLaughlin and Hayden McLaughlin both scored 15 to lead the Bulldogs.

Algona’s two losses this year have come at the hands of Top-5 teams in No. 2 (3A) Estherville-LC and fourth-ranked Forest City.

St. Edmond will head to Iowa Falls-Alden on Thursday before closing out the week and 2024 back home on Friday vs. No. 15 (3A) Hampton-Dumont/CAL.

Algona plays three games over three days to conclude the year, heading to Mason City Newman on Thursday and Webster City on Friday. They take on No. 1 (1A) Bishop Garrigan at home on Saturday.