Sports
Sioux no match for mighty Mavericks in Mohall
Tyler Ohmann
12/20/2011
The Westhope-Newburg Lady Sioux lost their third straight in Mohall last Tuesday as they continued on the road to begin their season.
The Mavericks, with a strong press, forced several turnovers in route to a 57-33 win over the Sioux.
The Sioux were without leading scorer and rebounder Hadlee Schell, who was out with an injury. Sioux Head Coach Jordan Cooper, who is in his first year as coach, said that was a big hole for the Sioux.
“Not having Hadlee, with the little scoring we had been doing, she was doing it,” Cooper said. “She is one of our older players, so it really hurt not to have her.”
Evidence was given in the first quarter as the Sioux were held scoreless by the Mavericks, who jumped out to an 11-0 lead through one quarter.
“We’re really looking for a scorer right now,” Cooper said. “We are bad and young at the right spots.”
MLS held tight to that 11-point margin as they took a 27-16 lead into halftime. For the better part of the game the Mavericks used a full-court press, which was trouble all night for a young Sioux squad.
“We have some young guards and they are growing up real fast,” Cooper said. “We have a lot of size, but we don’t have a lot of ball handlers. We just have to learn to pass through the zone and not dribble through it.”
“We’re throwing it to the right spot, but we are a second or two late,” Cooper added. “They are learning, and will have to learn to get through some presses if we are going to compete.”
The Mavericks expanded their lead in the second half, and led by 16 after three periods, before pressing the gas in the the final quarter to take a 24-point win.
Cooper said the girls, many of whom are freshman and sophomores, are still learning to work together.
“We are getting comfortable with each other and trying to gel a little bit,” Cooper said. “It’s tough, because they are so young and a lot don’t have a lot of varsity experience.”
Cooper took over as coach this year for Dobie Thom, who had been the coach for several years prior, but resigned as Westhope superindendant this past summer and is now the principal of Kenmare High School.
Cooper is trying to teach them some new things and a new philosphy, which he admits has been tough the first couple of weeks.
“During the first week and a half of practice it has been just getting used to a new program,” Cooper said. “There is a lot of newness going on with everybody.”
“Its about trying to teach them where to be and helping each other with passes, and making sure they are good passes,” Cooper added. “That is just a matter of playing. You can teach it all you want, but if they don’t get out there and experience it, there is nothing you can do.”
In the game Tuesday, junior Bailey Tofteland led the Sioux in scoring with nine points, senior Kylee Conway and freshman Amber Hall each chipped in six in the loss.
Seirra Smith and Lexi Bahl led the way for the Mavericks as they scored 14 and 10 respectively.
Cooper said the Sioux need to find a scorer, as last year’s team was led in scoring by seniors. The hole left by that senior class is a big one to fill.
“We had to reload this year,” Cooper said. “We lost Kendra Thom and Alisha Braaten and they were the scorers. I added up the all the points and they were close to 60 percent of the points the Lady Sioux scored last year.”
All in all, Cooper is happy with what he sees from his young group.
“I see some passion. They want to get to places and know where to pass the ball, but they are just not quite there yet,” Cooper said. “They are just young and new at it, but they’ll get there.”
“We are running 10 girls deep, so that is an advantage,” Cooper added. “But we are hurting for guards and hurting for ball handlers, so it will be interesting.”
The Sioux continue their season next Monday evening as they travel to Minot to take on the fourth-ranked Bishop Ryan Lions.
Cooper said the Sioux are excited for the challenge.
“We have nothing to lose,” Cooper said. “We are excited about it, because we are expected to get the crap beat out of us, so its one of those games where you can have fun, try new things and hopefully something good comes from it.”