Cherokee, Ia (Northwest Iowa Now) – The Spencer Girls and Boys basketball teams went to Cherokee Tuesday night for Lakes Conference play.

The Spencer girls got off to a slow start offensively again, getting outscored 22-3 by Class 3A’s #7 ranked team. The Tigers put together a better 2nd quarter offensively but struggled to stop the offensive attack of the Braves. Cherokee went into the half leading Spencer 45-19. The Braves really blew open the game in the 3rd quarter, outscoring Spencer 26-8 and led 71-30 going into the fourth. From there, Cherokee coasted to an 83-38 route of the Tigers.

The Braves got 19 points from McKenna Benson who hit 4 3-pointers and led four scorers in double figures.

Kennedy Graettinger led Spencer in the loss with 13.

The Tigers fall to 4-11 on the season as they drop their 6th straight and are now 0-4 in Lakes Conference play.

Cherokee evens up their Lakes Conference record at 2-2 and are now 10-2 overall with the only losses coming to Estherville Lincoln Central and Spirit Lake, two other ranked teams in Class 3A.

The boys contest had a similar start, as shots weren’t falling for the Tigers along with turnover struggles in the 1st quarter. Cherokee led Spencer 15-4 going in to the second. The Tigers bounced back in the 2nd quarter by outscoring the Braves 18-15 but still trailed by 8 going into the half. Through the second half, any time Spencer made a run, Cherokee would respond iwth a bigger run and ended up pulling away to with 69-52.

The Tigers only had 4 scorers on the night, led by Cael Bruning’s 23.

Cherokee had 4 scorers in double-figures, with Coy Lewis scoring 21.

Cherokee improves to 8-4 on the year and 2-1 in the Lakes Conference, giving them sole possession of 3rd place.

Spencer is now in 4th with a conference record of 1-3 and an overall record of 8-6.

Next up for the Braves will be a home game against Spirit Lake on Friday.

Spencer is off until Monday when they will travel to Estherville Lincoln Central.