Irish girls basketball claims two wins

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The Maple Lake girls basketball team claimed their first win of the season, Tuesday, Dec. 16, beating Holdingford 38-26, then went on to take third place in the Eden Valley-Watkins Pre-Holiday Tournament after a heart-stopping, one-point victory over Sauk Rapids-Rice.
The girls are now 1-1 in the Central Minnesota Conference, since Holdingford was a conference game, and 2-4 overall.
The Irish started out using full-court pressure, Tuesday, to expose the younger, less experienced Huskers, Irish Head Coach Adam Ronnenberg said.
With some quick run-outs for easy baskets, the Irish managed to gain and hold a commanding 24-12 lead at the half.
Maple Lake slowed a little in the second half offensively, but their defense held out to claim the long-awaited win.
Emily Webb scored a career high 20 points for the night.
“It was nice to see us jump out at the start of the game,” Ronnenberg said. “We are gaining confidence each day and will continue to improve our shooting.”
On Thursday, Dec. 18, The Irish traveled to Eden Valley-Watkins for a pre-holiday tournament where they fell 60-33 to the home-town Eagles in their first match-up.
Maple Lake struggled to find a rhythm offensively thanks in part to EV-W’s tough pressure defense. The Irish found themselves down 38-12 at the end of the half.
Despite making some changes and playing a better second half, according to Ronnenberg, the Irish just couldn’t recover.
“Eden Valley-Watkins is the favorite in the conference this season,” Ronnenberg said. “But the Irish are focused, growing each day and looking forward to the next time they meet.”
Morgan Scheiber had a good night for the Irish, leading scoring with 11 points, eight rebounds and two steals.
“Eden Valley-Watkins is easily the top defensive team in our conference,” Ronnenberg said. “Combine that with strong post play and the result isn’t real favorable.
“We certainly didn’t play our best and will be better prepared for their pressure in the future,” he added.
Maple Lake connected on only eight of 28 free-throw attempts, Thursday night. The 28 attempts was a season high for the Irish.
EV-W also shot 47 percent from the floor while the Irish only shot 30 percent.
On Friday, Dec. 19, the Irish took on Sauk Rapids-Rice for third place in the tournament, sneaking by for a one-point, 48-47 victory over the Storm.
The Storm are a non-conference opponent who generally play in a larger class than Maple Lake, Ronnenberg said.
The Irish came out strong behind some solid defensive pressure and the “hot” shooting of Kayla Hoistad.
Hoistad had 13 of her career-high 17 points in the first half, leading Maple Lake to a 30-16 halftime lead.
 
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