Central girls finish week 1-1
By Willis Patenaude, Times-Register
Central’s girls’ basketball team went through a roller coaster last week. After weather postponed a game against Turkey Valley, the Warriors lost to Kee, enduring their second three-loss stretch of the season, before turning it around with a dominating victory over South Winneshiek. The Warriors are now sitting at 8-6 in the conference and 9-9 overall.
The girls started off competitive against Kee, down only two points at halftime, and took a short-lived lead in the third period. But the Hawks, led by leading scorer Reagan Mudderman, were relentless, and after hitting a three-pointer for the lead, never relinquished it. Kee went on to win 52-45.
“We played a very good first half and found ourselves still down two. The first four minutes of the third quarter we struggled offensively and that was a huge difference in the game. Kee High was aggressive to the basket and got to the free throw line 18 times. Likewise, we only went four times, which was due to us not being aggressive to the basket throughout the game, but especially in the first four minutes after half time,” head coach Mark Wiley explained.
Central was led in scoring by Haley Frieden with 19 points. Delaney Scherf had 12 points, Abby Cummer had four and Hannah Asche and Grace Kuehl each had three.
Those points were aided by Central’s season-high 14 team assists, led by Delaney Scherf with six of those. Kuehl had three assists, Ashlyn Scherf had two and Frieden, Lexi Loan and Carly Kluesner had one apiece.
On the defensive side, Delaney Scherf had seven rebounds to lead the team. Kuehl pulled down five rebounds and Cummer grabbed four.
“We out-rebounded Kee High in the game and second chance points were nearly even. We did our part on the defensive end to limit extra opportunities. We just didn’t defend with our feet as well as we need to,” Wiley said.
The Warrior defense could not overcome the Hawks’ high shooting percentage and defense, which totaled 12 steals and only committed four fouls.
The game against South Winneshiek was another story, as Central played up to potential and not down to its opponents’ level, easily winning 48-27.
“It was great to see the team take control of the basketball game early. Pushing the lead to double digits early in the second quarter off an Asche three on an out of bounds play, we continued to build on the lead into the second half,” Wiley said.
The Warrior defense held their opponents to fewer than 10 points in all four periods and limited them to four points total in the first period.
Delaney Scherf was the leading scorer with 15 points. Asche had eight points, Fern Diersen and Ashlyn Scherf had six each and Cummer picked up five on the night.
Frieden led the team with nine rebounds and two blocks in the game. Delaney Scherf had seven rebounds, while Kuehl and Cummer each grabbed six and Diersen had five.
“We grabbed a season-high 48 rebounds on the night, held South Winn to less than 20 percent shooting and limited them to five second-chance points,” Wiley said.
Frieden also led the team with four assists. Delaney Scherf had three assists, and Ashlyn Scherf, Carly Kluesner, and Gracie Cummer each had one.
“We were much more aggressive off the dribble and it showed. We shot 30 free throws on the night and made 20. Ten of our 12 field goals were assisted, which is great to see our willingness to make the extra pass for our open teammate,” Wiley said.
Hannah Asche played a great defensive game and grabbed a season-high six steals. Delaney Scherf was active on the top and side of the team’s zone defense, grabbing five steals. Diersen, Carly Kluesner, Abby Cummer and Kuehl had one steal apiece.
The Warriors head back to the court for a three-game stretch that started Feb. 1, against Starmont. That’s followed with a home game against MFL MarMac on Tuesday, Feb. 2. On Thursday, Feb. 4, the Warriors will travel to Turkey Valley for a rescheduled game.
