Sports

Sioux girls get first win

By Tyler Ohmann

12/23/2013

There is no place like home.

Westhope-Newburg (WN) took heart to Judy Garland’s famous words as they found their first win in their home opener with a win over Kenmare.

The win followed three losses, two last weekend in Minot and one earlier this week in Mohall.

The Sioux actually trailed early on in the game as they fell behind 12-9 after one quarter. However, the Sioux found their rhythm in the second quarter by capitalizing on Honkers turnovers to go up at halftime.

The Sioux had built up a 24-point lead in the second half, but let the Honkers get back in the game.

“It was actually just nice to get a win,” said Sioux head coach Jordan Cooper. “It would have been nice to finish the game better, but we haven’t had that many of those situations, so our girls kind of reacted like I’d assume they would.”

“We have to work on that a little bit,” Cooper added.

WN instituted a new offensive system this season and also added a strong full court press to their defensive arsenal.

“We try to press as much as we can to try and take advantage of some teams that have some weaker ball handlers like we do anyway,” Cooper said. “We try to exploit that and get some cheap points off that.”

The Sioux were led by junior Lauren Mach who scored most of the Sioux’s points and also pulled down more than 10 rebounds.

“I thought we rebounded the ball well today,” Cooper said.

Molly Lodoen added more points, while Ashlyn Huber and Halima Khalifa each added buckets.

“I think we’re taking baby steps, and it’s better than I’ve felt in a long time about the group,” Cooper said. “Everyone is really committed.”

One thing that concerned Cooper was the amount of missed free throws. WN was able to get to the line numerous times thanks to aggressive drives to the hoop, but were unable to effectively make free throws.

“We didn’t work a lot on free throws this week, and I suppose over the Christmas break we’ll have to work on those, because we were not good from the free throw line,” Cooper said. “We have a few things to work out, but it’s better than I’ve felt in awhile.”  

The Sioux also played last Tuesday against Mohall-Lansford-Sherwood in the first game of a girls/boys doubleheader.

The Mavericks jumped out early on and never looked back on the Sioux. After 13-4 lead in the first quarter and 29-17 lead at halftime,  things evened out as both teams scored 16 points in the second half, but the Sioux were unable to pull any closer.

Emily Abernathey and Seirra Smith combined for 26 points for the Mavericks in the win.

Molly Lodoen led the Sioux with 11 points. Mach and fellow junior Amber Hall had 10 points a piece.

The Sioux (1-3) will play the early part of a girls/boys doubleheader at 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 7 as they host the Bottineau Stars in Westhope.