Visiting Bloomington Jefferson outscored Park by six points in the second half to take a 43-34 non-conference win in girls basketball Saturday afternoon in Cottage Grove.

The loss snapped a threegame Park winning streak.

Jefferson led 18-15 at the half, then outscored Park 25-19 after the break.

Park slipped to 11-13 on the season. Bloomington Jefferson improved to 1013.

Tori Henderson had 12 points to lead the Wolfpack on off3nse. Bryleigh Dana scored 8 points, Sydnee Nelson and Edie Walton had 5 points each.

Park has the toughest week of the season to wrap up conference play, traveling to Stillwater (13-2, 203) Wednesday, then hosting conference-leading and ninth-ranked East Ridge (14-1, 19-4) Friday in the regular season finale.

Park 39, Irondale 36

Senior point guard Sydnee Nelson made a pair of clutch free throws in the final seconds and the Park High girls hung on for a closer-than-expected 39-36 win over visiting Irondale Thursday.

Irondale (0-16, 3-21) came into the contest winless in the Suburban East Conference but gave the Park Wolfpack (8-8, 11-12) all they could handle for most of the game. Still, the Wolfpack made the plays down the stretch to hold off the Knights.

“I think we grind that one out,” said Park senior guard Emma Ambroz. “We played really hard and that’s what kept us in the game. We did a really good job rebounding at the beginning. I think when we stopped doing that’s how they got back in the game. But we were able to grind it out and play together so that was good.”

Park led 22-16 at the half and 27-19 with 12:28 to play, but Irondale outscored the Wolfpack 20-17 after the break. Irondale closed to 37-36 with 25 seconds to play, then Nelson came through with a clutch pair of free throws to salt the game away.

“We started out with good energy and they stayed together through the game,” said Park head coach Stephanie Tolkinen. “I think Irondale really stepped up, they just really believed that they get this and they’ve been playing better basketball. Us starting out with good energy, making some shots early, getting to run a few things, recognizing what they’re in. The kids are starting to be able to make some decisions and play a little bit more on the floor without me having to call something every time or else calling it from the bench all the time.

“I thought for the mental toughness part of it the girls kind of held it together much better tonight than earlier in the season when there’s times it would have been like we’re getting frustrated and falling paper, so I would say keeping it together mentally and just staying together,” Tolkinen continued. “It came right down to the very end and our girls stuck with it and that’s just a lesson that’s going to us into the next game and the next game. It’s late in the season but these kids are still learning and we’re still growing.”

Nelson and Tori Henderson each scored 11 points and Bryleigh Dana had 9 to lead Park offensively.

“That was a rough game,” said senior guard Edie Walton. “Everyone was in it like hard and so we just had to be tough. I think toughness was the biggest thing for us. And them not so well, probably rebounding toward the end. They outrebounded us some. I think that kept them in the game a little bit.”

Park 51, Woodbury 31

The Wolfpack stormed out to a 32-12 lead after a half and cruised to a homecourt victory over visiting Woodbury Tuesday evening.

Tori Henderson has a season- high 21 points to lead the Wolfpack. Tenley Nelson scored 13 and Bryleigh Dana 10 for Park.

Leading scorer Tori Henderson drives the lane for two points against Irondale. Photo by John Molene