Staff photo by Travis Rosenau New Ulm’s Morgan Hulke looks to put up a shot while guarded by St. Peter’s Madison Kamm (1) during a Section 2AAA Girls Basketball Tournament semifinals game at Gustavus Adolphus College in St. Peter.

ST. PETER — Despite making top-seeded St. Peter sweat late during a Section 2AAA Girls Basketball Tournament semifinals game at Gustavus Adolphus College, the fourth-seeded Eagles’ second-half comeback fell short as the Saints pulled out a 78-70 win.

The win moves top-seeded St. Peter on the to a section finals game against second-seeded Marshall on Thursday back at Gustavus. Marshall defeated Mankato East 61-55 later on Saturday to earn its trip to the section finals.

The Eagles were led by Morgan Hulke’s 23 points and nine rebounds, while Ramsey Hopp had 17 points and Brooklyn Lewis had 13 points. Maddie Backer added 9 points and four rebounds for the Eagles, who finished the season 21-7.

The Saints, 26-2, were led by Rhyan Holmgren’s 25 points, while Madison Kamm and Kylie Southworth each scored 19. Abby Maloney added 11 points.

“I think we had multiple defenses ready to go with them,” New Ulm head coach Julie Rogers said. “They’re just really good outside shooters. If you get out hard on them, especially Holmgren, or if you get out hard on Kylie Southworth, then they drive in. They’re just really good players. But I was really proud of how our kids played defense tonight. I thought they played hard, I thought they helped cover Rhyan, but she’s a fabulous basketball player, she had a good game tonight.”

A pair of Hulke 3s gave New Ulm a 6-2 lead, but a Southworth 3 and a bucket inside by Holmgren quickly put the Saints in front. A corner 3 by Hulke had the Eagles within 1 moments later, 14-13, but that was answered with a 3 by Southworth.

Southworth hit five 3s total in the game, three in the first half. Kamm also hit two first-half 3s and finished the game with three total.

The 3s made it hard for New Ulm to keep on St. Peter’s heels in the first half as the Saints increased their lead to 31-20 to force a New Ulm timeout with 6:38 left in the half. The Eagles never let that deficit grow any larger than 11 and trailed 41-33 at halftime.

A corner 3 by Hopp had New Ulm down 50-46, but 3s from Kamm and Southworth gave the Saints a double-digit lead again at 56-46. The Eagles later got a 3 from Hulke, a free throw from Leah Brustad and a pair of free throws by Hopp to trail 65-63 with 5:29 left to play.

That was as close as the Saints let the Eagles get, however, as they pushed their lead back up to 9, 75-66. Hulke, who also had five 3s in the game, hit her fifth in the last minute to bring New Ulm within 6, but the Saints added another three free throws to their total after and held on for the win.

“I think we started running some of our plays and we were concentrating on driving to the basket and either finishing or kicking,” Rogers said. “We didn’t necessarily finish all the time. We were maybe taking shots that were contested and they didn’t go in, and we missed a couple of outside shots that I wish would have gone. … I think we struggled at the free-throw line a little bit more than we want to.

“But if you look at our team that was out there tonight, not a single senior. These kids are all coming back next year, so I’m really looking forward to working with them this summer and then what next season brings.”

The Eagles ended up hitting 10 of 17 shots from the charity stripe, while St. Peter hit 20 of 26 free throws.

The Eagles, who never truly had a fully healthy lineup this past season, were certainly missing injured senior Daviney Dreckman on the floor Saturday night.

“If we had Daviney tonight, she’s a game-changer,” Rogers said. “It really stinks that she’s having to struggle at the end of the season with her ACL, but she’s had a great career. She should be really proud of her accomplishments and the legacy that she leaves for New Ulm High School.

“All three of us coaches said to the girls that we were just so proud and we had a fabulous season. We didn’t like the way it ended, but that doesn’t take away from all the successes they had this year.”