Messenger photo by Britt Kudla: Anna Lursen of St. Edmond scores against South Hamilton on Thursday night in Des Moines.

DES MOINES — The St. Edmond girls were forced to wait a little longer than they had planned to take the court on Thursday night inside Wells Fargo Arena.

And maybe that led to the slow start by the Gaels.

Behind a strong second half, though, St. Edmond was able to pull out a 35-26 victory over South Hamilton as part of the Iowa Wolves High School Hoops Series.

Originally scheduled to tip at 6:30 p.m., it was over an hour later before the Gaels (2-5 overall) and Hawks (2-6) would start.

“It took us a little while to get the nerves out,” SEHS head coach CJ Tracy said. “It’s a bigger court and a different environment, but I think the girls had a lot of fun out there.

“It was a terrific experience for them, and hopefully, will light a fire under them as we move into the rest of the season.”

Sophomore Chloe Palmer led the way for St. Edmond, scoring 11 points. Payton Bradley added nine. Sophomore Abby Huss tallied six, classmate Sophia Schlienz had four, Josie Harvey three and junior Anna Lursen chipped in two.

“I’m definitely very grateful to have the opportunity to play at Wells Fargo Arena,” Harvey said. “Obviously, that is every team’s end goal, so to get a taste of that is motivation for the whole team.

“As a senior, I found this experience extra special. My team knows our potential, so now it’s time to execute. We want to look back and say we gave our all. I thought we did that during the game here.”

Lursen continued her run as the leading rebounder for St. Edmond, grabbing 11 boards to increase her season average to 10.7. Palmer grabbed eight rebounds from her guard position.

Neither team found much success on offense early on, as the scoreboard was knotted at 4-all following eight minutes of play. The Gaels took control in the second, going up 14-10 at the break.

St. Edmond would push its lead to six heading to the fourth and final period.

Claire Hewitt had a game-high 12 points to lead the Hawks, while Tessa Skartvedt added five points.

Bradley, one of three seniors on the squad along with Harvey and Braelynn Rees, called it a “special” moment during her final season as a Gael on the hardwood. On Thursday, Bradley made two big 3-pointers to help spark the second-quarter run.

“Being able to play at Wells Fargo Arena was a fantastic experience. I know all of us girls were excited to play there,” Bradley said. “It was definitely super special since it was my senior year. I hope the team will get to go back there the following seasons, and be able to experience it as well.”

The Gaels snapped a four-game win streak in the series by the Hawks, with the last St. Edmond win coming in 2018. In the last 17 seasons, the Gaels have won 13 of the 20 meetings between the two who are separated by just 41 miles.

“We played extremely well on defense,” Tracy said. “I thought we did a lot of good things on offense, but we just couldn’t get good looks to fall. That’s been the story of our season, so hopefully it gets figured out moving forward.

“As coaches, we just kept coaching them up and telling them what they were doing right and it was getting a smile on their faces which is what this is all about.”

Next action for the Gaels will be on Tuesday when they return to North Central Conference play at Humboldt. Tip is set for 6:15 p.m.

This game with South Hamilton was originally scheduled for a home date in December. St. Edmond does not play at home again until Jan. 13 when they host Eagle Grove.

ST. EDMOND 35, SOUTH HAMILTON 26

St. Edmond — Chloe Palmer 11, Payton Bradley 9, Abby Huss 6, Sophia Schlienz 4, Josie Harvey 3, Anna Lursen 2.

South Hamilton — Claire Hewitt 12, Tessa Skartvedt 5.

Quarter scores: Tied 4-4; St. Edmond led 14-10, 24-18.