DARLINGTON – Something about a personal tragedy brings out the best in Darlington guard Amy Jorgenson.
    Last February, Jorgenson went out the night her family home burned down and set a career-high with 26 points in a victory over Riverdale.
    And, that’s where her career-high stood until Friday when the Redbird senior– one day after rolling and totaling her car on snow-covered roads– poured in a career-best 33 points to lead Darlington over rival Mineral Point, 43-35, in a SWAL girls’ basketball game at DHS on Feb. 24.
    The Redbirds (13-8 overall, 9-4 in SWAL) held a slim 21-20 advantage, then started to pull away from the Pointers (9-12, 5-8) in the second half.
    An 8-5 run in the third quarter put the ‘Birds ahead 29-25, and Jorgenson buried a pair of 3-pointers in the fourth quarter to keep the hosts on top.
    Darlington converted 10-of-14 free throws in the game to bury the Pointers.
    Junior guard Cassidy Chambers netted six points for the Redbirds, while Hannah Lawinger led Mineral Point with 10 points.
    At Darlington, on Tuesday, Feb. 21, points were coming in bunches for the Lady Redbirds as they buried the visiting Iowa-Grant Panthers, 71-24, in SWAL action.
    Darlington got off to a fast start by scoring the game’s first 16 points, then added a 21-0 run later in the first half to build up a 39-8 halftime lead.
    The ‘Birds doubled up the Panthers (3-18, 2-11) in the second half, 32-16, to charge away with a 47-point victory.
    Juniors Claire Scott and Cassidy Chambers scored a game-high 16 points apiece to lead the Redbirds, while senior forward AnnaLisa Ruesga poured in a career-high 10 points for the ‘Birds.
    Mallory Busch and Abigail Merriam set season-highs with eight and six points, respectively, while senior Amy Jorgenson chipped in with seven points.
    Taylor Buchanan led the Panthers with six points.
    Darlington closes the regular season at Boscobel in their SWAL finale on Thursday, March 1.
    The Redbirds were seeded sixth in their sectional bracket for the upcoming WIAA Division 4 tournament and they will host #11-seeded Waterloo (2-19) in a regional quarterfinal contest on Tuesday, March 6, starting at 7 p.m.

Mineral Point… 12   8   5  10 - 35
Darlington……. 12   9   8  14 - 43
Leading Scorers: Amy Jorgenson 33, Cassidy Chambers 6, Claire Scott 2, AnnaLisa Ruesga 2.

Iowa-Grant…   4    4    9    7 - 24
Darlington…. 22  17  16  16 - 71
Leading Scorers: Cassidy Chambers 16, Claire Scott 16, AnnaLisa Ruesga 10, Mallory Busch 8, Amy Jorgenson 7, Abigail Merriam 6, Tatum Evenstad 3, Alexa Hardyman 2, Haily McGowan 2, Kaitlyn Wall 1.