Wabasso defeats MVL in girls basketball
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NEW ULM -- Wabasso remained perfect as it downed Minnesota Valley Lutheran 56-35 on Tuesday in a Tomahawk Conference girls' basketball game.
The Rabbits opened the game with an 8-0 run for an 11-2 lead. Jenna Frank scored a basket, was fouled and she made the free throw. MVL's Haley Birkholz answered with a hoop of her own.
Later, Wabasso's Kayla Jenniges scored, was fouled and she made a free throw. Lindsey Bernardy hit basket and Madison Guetter nailed a 3-pointer for the advantage.
Emma Nelson's 3-point shot bought the Chargers within six points at 11-5 before Wabasso continued to cushion its lead to 35-11. Both teams traded points to close out the first half with Wabasso ahead 37-13.
"We played a great half-court defense," Wabasso coach Neil Dolan said. "We only gave up 49 against Sleepy (on Nov. 30) and 36 tonight."
The squads played fairly evenly in the second half with MVL outscoring Wabasso 24-21. Wabasso led 51-22 midway through the second half. Both teams freely substituted for the remainder of the contest and each squad traded baskets.
Maddie Spurgin canned a 3-point shot and she scored a basket for MVL's final points of the evening.
"The girls were a little tight tonight," MVL Rollin Timm said. "They were excited to play a good quality of a team and that showed itself in the mistakes and the quality of play in the first half."
Timm hopes MVL can become more consistent as the season unfolds. He credited Wabasso's defense for causing MVL to miss shots.
Madison Guetter led Wabasso with 19 points and six rebounds. Frank added 15 points with six rebounds, Jenniges had 10 rebounds and Bernardy had five assists.
Nelson scored nine points for the Chargers. Birkholz, Lauren Paulsen and Maddie Spurgin each had seven points.
MVL (2-2, 1-1) will participate on Thursday in the MLC Invitational Tournament at Martin Luther College. Wabasso (2-0, 2-0) will host Cedar Mountain/Comfrey (1-0) on Friday.