Girls shake doldrums, come back to beat St. Clair
With all the poise of a veteran, Minneota eighth grader Natalee Rolbiecki stepped to the free throw line and sank four free throws, then with 14 seconds to go, Morgan Kockelman sank two more.
It was enough to successfully complete a comeback from a 14-point deficit and hoist the Vikings to a 64-60 win over St. Clair in the second game of the Borch's Holiday Classic at SMSU in Marshall.
"We joked with Natalee about how she'll shoot better free throws after Christmas," said Assistant Coach Dale Kockelman.
Rolbiecki, playing in place of Lydia Sussner, (who was ill and after scoring eight points playing sparingly in the first half and didn't return in the second half), showed the poise of a veteran at the free throw line.
Minneota had to overcome what Kockelman called, "Lights out," shooting by St. Clair in the first half.
They hit eight three-pointers and at one point had seven three-pointers out of 13 total shots. Three of the three-pointers came in the first three minutes of the game to vault the Crusaders to a 28-14 lead.
St. Clair Coach Brian Noyes, a Minneota native, was asked if his girls always shoot like that. "Not all the time," Noyes chuckled.
The Vikings began to pick up the pace and pulled within four and trailed 35-29 at the half.
Without Sussner it looked bleak for the Vikings.
But counting them out would have been a huge mistake.
Led by Abby and Morgan Hennenn and Morgan Kockelman, Minneota began "crashing" the boards, hauling in rebounds, forcing St. Clair into turnovers and they suddenly began to put the ball in the hoop.
"They crashed the boards and did it like a team," said Assistant Coach Kockelman. "They played very well and they did it without Lydia," he added.
Abby Hennen scored nine points in the first eight minutes of the second half and went to the boards for eight rebounds. Sister Morgan added six more rebounds and scored nine of her 12 points in the second half. Abby Hennen and Kockelman led the team with 14 points apiece.
Kockleman provided scoring power as well with nine points in the second half to add to her 14-point total.
The Hennen sisters also put the pressure on St. Clair, grabbing seven steals between then, while Rolbiecki added three steals. Morgan Hennen was forced into guarding St. Clair's big gal in the middle, Megan Mettler, because of Sussner's absence and, "Did a fine job on that girl," said Coach Kockelman.
"Without Lydia, the girls crashed the boards well. Maybe now they can do that when Lydia is back," Coach Kockelman added. One of those grabbing rebounds was Lizzy Gillingham, who collected five rebounds.
Down the stretch, Minneota sank 10 of 19 free throws and finally took the lead from St.Clair on a three-pointer by Kockelman, 55-53.
A three-pointer by Megan Devens helped St. Clair re-gain the lead — but the Vikings got it right back when Abby Hennen hit again from three-point territory. It was 57-56 with 5:08 to go in the game.
After that, it was the free throws that made the difference as two Crusaders fouled out.
Minneota Coach Chad Johnston also sent his team onto the floor to slow down the game and they stalled a couple of minutes off the clock to force St. Clair to foul.
The free throws did the rest.
St. Clair Coach Noyes said his team didn't, "Go inside enough," and after the 12 three-pointers they hit, there were only 10, two-pointers.
Coach Kockelman felt Minneota may have found some alternatives to Sussner playing so much of the game — with Morgan Hennen doing a good job inside. "Maybe we can give Lydia more rest from now on," he said.
Coach Noyes, who said Lydia Sussner's dad Jeff Sussner was his best friend in his school, found it ironic he was now playing against his best friend's daughter.
Despite winning just one of two in the holiday classic, Coach Kockelman found a bright side.
"As bad a loss as it was yesterday (44-41 to Springfield), this was as good a win," he added.
MINNEOTA (2's, 3's, FT, F, TP) Morgan Kockelman 2 2 4-4 2 14; Lizzy Gillingham 2 0 1-5 4 5; Morgan Hennen 3 1 3-8 4 12; Abby Hennen 4 2 0-2 1 14; Lydia Sussner 4 0 0-0 1 8; Natalee Rolbiecki 1 1 4-4 1 9; Abby Rost 0 0 0-0 1 0; Mariah Muhl 1 0 0-0 0 2. Totals 17 6 12-23 14 64.
ST. CLAIR (2's, 3's, FT, F, TP) Cassidy Anderegg 0 1 0-0 1 3; Claire Anderson 0 0 0-1 5 0; Michaela Karels 0 0 1-2 5 1; Sophie Seys 0 0 0-0 1 0; Olivia Drummer 4 4 1-3 4 21; Megan Devens 1 3 0-0 2 11; Mackenzie Kruse 0 4 1-2 0 13; Megan Mettler 5 0 1-3 4 11. Totals 10 12 4-11 22 60.
Score by Halves
Minneota 29 35 — 64
St. Clair 35 25 — 60
Statistics:
SHOOTING: Minneota 23 of 56 for 41 percent; St. Clair 22 of 49 for 45 percent.
FREE THROWS: Minneota 12 of 23 for 52 percent; St. Clair 4 of 11 for 36 percent.
REBOUNDS: Minneota 29 (Abby Hennen 8; Morgan Hennen 6; Gillingham 5; Sussner 4; Rolbiecki, Rost 2 each, Muhl, Kockelman 1 each); St. Clair 32 (Mettler 9; Drummer 7; Karels 4; Anderson , Devens, Kruse 3 each, Seys 2; Anderegg 1).
TURNOVERS: Minneota 9; St. Clair 21.
STEALS: Minneota 12 (Morgan Hennen 4; Abby Hennen, Rolbiecki 3 each, Muhl, Gillingham 1 each); St. Clair1 (Karels 1).
BLOCKS: None.