PREP GIRLS' BASKETBALL: Quasars take down Wolverines
OKABENA — In the second game of the season, the Mountain Lake/Butterfield-Odin girls’ basketball team hosted Southwest Star Concept, defeating the Quasars’ 54-44 that night in early December.
However, it was a different story the second time around.
This time SSC was the host team and the Quasars defended their home court, defeating the Wolverines 43-41 Monday night.
“We played them early on in the season and there’s no doubt that each team has improved,” SSC head coach Keith Place said. “It was a good win for the home team. We kept fighting all the way through. For a young team to be able to do that it shows that we have some character. It was a battle.”
SSC (4-15) took an early 18-9 lead with five minutes to play in the first half. The Quasars had held their opponents scoreless for nearly five minutes in the first half before Rachel Dukes sunk a duo of 3-pointers to bring the score to 18-15 with 3:31 left in the half.
Each team scored a handful of buckets to close out the half, entering the break with SSC leading ML/B-O 22-17.
The Quasars continued to keep a distance from the Wolverines (2-17) in the second half, pulling away to a nine-point lead (28-19) after a Courtney Place 3-pointer with 14:13 left in regulation.
But the Wolverines quickly made a comeback.
ML/B-O went on a 15-6 run over the next 10 minutes to tie the game up at 34-all with just 4:02 left to play.
“We were rushing the ball a little too much and we should’ve slowed down,” SSC’s Connor DeWall said. “And we got a little bit too excited and we were thinking ahead too much instead of just playing in the moment. We were just wasting time instead of using it to our advantage.”
Shortly after ML/B-O tied the game, Courtney Place sunk four free-throw shots — giving SSC a 38-36 advantage with 3:39 to play — after being sent to the line after an opposing player was called for a technical foul after elbowing the SSC freshman.
ML/B-O’s Janessa Peters responded with two buckets to give the Wolverines the lead once again (40-38) with 1:44 left in the game.
However, SSC would sink five free-throw shots in the final 90 seconds to secure the victory and close out their home season with a win.
“The game went how it went and we ended up winnin. That’s about it,” DeWall said. “We really pulled it together tonight.
“I think both sides, once we started getting into there at the end, started getting more aggressive. That’s part of the game though; you can’t really give up and blame all of the struggles on being physical because that’s part of basketball.”
The Quasars were led by Courtney Place’s 23 points, eight rebounds, four assists and two steals. DeWall added five points and 10 rebounds, while Arianna Hesemann added three points and eight rebounds.
The Wolverines were led by Peters’ 19 points. Dukes added 14 points for ML/B-O.
SSC’s next game is Friday against Ellsworth, while ML/B-O has a week off before taking on Madelia on Feb. 13.
“Once we were able to figure out how to guard Ms. Peters, who, let’s face it, is always going to get her share of points, we were able to make some defensive stops,” Keith Place said. “I think that helped us build our lead. We stayed aggressive offensively and we continued to attack the middle and make shots.
“All we can ask is that our players try to get better both individually and as a team with each game, and I think they’ve done a good job of that thus far.”
ML/B-O 17 24 — 41
SSC 22 21 — 43
ML/B-O (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Peters 0-7-5-19, Wenner 0-2-2-6, Dukes 3-1-3-14, Hildebrandt 0-0-1-1, Falk 0-0-1-1. Total 3-10-12-41.
SSC (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) Place 3-4-7-23, Baumgard 0-1-0-2, Wendland 0-2-1-5, Peters 0-0-4-4, DeWall 0-2-1-5, Hesemann 0-1-1-3. Total 3-10-14-43.
Daily Globe Sports Reporter Jocelyn Syrstad can be reached at 376-7335