Viking girls beat Yankton, SF Christian in Hoops Classic

The Minneota Viking girls ran their record to 9-0 when they traveled to Mitchell, SD and played in the Holiday Hoops Classic. They beat Yankton, SD, 45-34.

That was on Friday. On Saturday they moved to the Pentagon in Sioux Falls and beat Sioux Falls Chrsitian, 60-34,

Win over Yankton

PRESS DAKOTAN DAILY—Yankton, SD — A sluggish first quarter spelled doom for the Yankton Gazelles in their first game after the Christmas break.

Minneota jumped out to a 16-5 lead after one quarter and led by as many as 15 before claiming a 45-34 victory over the Gazelles in girls’ basketball action on Friday at the Corn Palace in Mitchell. The game was part of the Hoop City Classic.

Morgan Hennen finished with 12 points and nine rebounds, and Abby Hennen had 12 points and five assists for Minneota. Abby Rost added 10 points and 12 rebounds in the victory.

Sadie Fedders posted 10 points and three steals for Yankton. Madison Wuebben had seven points and seven rebounds. Kelsey Oswald added four assists.

Minneota scored the game’s first five points and quickly built a 14-3 advantage, mostly on baskets inside the lane.

“We were sluggish and slow on both ends of the floor in the first quarter,” said Yankton head coach Trey Krier. “We didn’t play our style.”

Minneota led 20-8 early in the second quarter, but Yankton held the Vikings scoreless for the rest of the period.

“We had to get up in their shorts more,” Fedders said of the defensive effort. “We needed to settle down a little bit.”

Yankton worked back to within seven, 26-19 before an 8-0 run to end the third quarter and start the fourth gave the Vikings their largest lead, 34-19. Minneota kept the Gazelles at bay the rest of the way.

“I thought we did a good job of finding a way out of it,” Krier said. “We had better intensity after the first quarter.

“We just have to make shots.”

Yankton struggled from the field, making just 4-of-26 shots in the first half (.154). The Gazelles finished the game 13-for-55 (.236), including 3-for-20 from three-point range (.150).

“We spent way too much time in the summer working on shooting to shoot like that,” Krier said. “The good news is, we get to get back on the floor tomorrow against a team similar to Minneota in the Pentagon with a state tournament atmosphere.”

The Gazelles struggled shooting but took care of the ball, committing just three turnovers. Yankton forced 15 turnovers, including seven steals.

The Gazelles (2-2) continue in the Hoop City Classic today (Saturday) against another school from Minnesota, Sibley East (4-10). The game is a scheduled 5 p.m. start at the Sanford Pentagon in Sioux Falls.

MINNEOTA

Morgan Hennen 5-9 2-4 12, Natalee Robliecki 2-3 0-0 4, Abby Hennen 5-9 0-3 12, Abby Rost 3-8 3-7 10, Jeren Rost 1-5 2-2 4, McKenzie Tolk 0-0 0-0 0, McKenna Yost 0-0 0-0 0, Mariah Hennen 0-0 0-0 0, Kennedi Jurrens 0-0 0-0 0, Ireland Stassen 1-2 1-3 3. TOTALS: 17-36 8-19 45.

YANKTON (2-2)

Payton Wolfgram 2-8 1-1 5, Kelsey Oswald 2-9 1-2 5, Madison Wuebben 3-16 0-0 7, Sadie Fedders 4-14 1-2 10, Morgan Strahl 0-1 1-2 1, Kate Beeman 0-2 0-0 0, Hannah Muth 2-5 1-4 6, Jordynn Salvatori 0-0 0-0 0, Paige Gullikson 0-0 0-1 0. TOTALS: 13-55 5-12 34.

MINNEOTA         16  4  13  12 — 45

YANKTON            5  6  8  15 — 34

Three-Pointers: M 3-6 (A. Hennen 2-3, A. Rost 1-3), Y 3-20 (Muth 1-4, Fedders 1-5, Wuebben 1-7, Wolfgram 0-2, Oswald 0-1, Beeman 0-1). Rebounds: M 46 (A. Rost 12), Y 29 (Wuebben 7). Personal Fouls: Y 18, M 16. Fouled Out: None. Assists: M 10 (A. Hennen 5), Y 8 (Oswald 4). Turnovers: M 15, Y 3. Blocked Shots: M 3, Y 1. Steals: Y 7 (Fedders 3), M 0.

Defeat Sioux Falls Christian

Natalee Rolbiecki poured in 16 points to lead the Minneota Vikings to their second-straight win over the Holidays, 60-34 over Sioux Falls Christian.

Rolbiecki turned in her best scoring game of the year and also had four rebounds. She hit four three-pointers out of nine attempts.

The Vikings took broke a 2-2 tie with a 13-point run for a 15-2 lead and expanded that to 29-6 and to 33-14 by halftime.

The rest of the game at the Pentagon in Sioux Falls was played with Minneota rolling to the one-sided win.

Rolbiecki was the only Viking to score in double figures, but McKenna Yost hit three of four, three-pointers and scored nine points, the same as Abby Hennen; Jeren Rost in the post scored eight and Morgan Hennen and Abby Rost each scored seven for the Vikings.

Under the basket, Minneota out-rebounded Christian, 27-18 with Abby Rost getting eight to lead the team and McKenzie Told collected five.

The Vikings also had 12 steals, to just one for Christian — with Abby Hennen and Abby Rost getting four each, Yost three and Morgan Hennen one.

MINNEOTA (2'S, 2'S, FT,  F, TP) Abby Hennen 1 1 4-4 2 9; Morgan Hennen 2 0 3-4 1 7; Kennedi Jurrens 0 0 0-0 0 0; Hailey Kimpe 0 0 0-0 0 0; Natalee Rolbiecki 2 4 0-0 2 16; Abby Rost 1 1 2-2 2 7; Jeren Jost 4 0 0-0 2 8; Ireland Stassen 1 0 0-0 1 2; McKenzie Tolk 1 0 0-0 0 2; McKenna Yost 0 3 0-0 2 9. Totals 12 9 9-10 11 60.

SIOUX FALLS CHRISTIAN (2's, 3's, FT, F, TP) DeJong 0 0 0-0 3 0; Lems 0 0 0-0 1 0; Olsen 1 0 2-2 2 4; Poppema 0 0 0-0 0 0; Reu 2 0 2-2 0 6; Tims 5 0 2-4 1 12; VanDonkersgoed 1 1 2-3 2 7; Wassink 1 1 0-0 0 5. Totals 10 2 8-11 9 34.

Score by Halves

Minneota         33     27    —    60

Christian         14     20    —    34

SHOOTING: Minneota (2's 12 of 31 for 39 percent; 9 of 22 for 41 percent; Overall 21 of 53 for 40 percent); SF Christian (2's 10 of 31 for 32 percent; 3's 2 of 10 for 20 percent; overall 12 of 41 for 29 percent).

FREE THROWS: Minneota 9 of 10 for 90 percent; SF Christian 8 of 11 for 73 percent.

REBOUNDS: Minneota 27 (Abby Rost 8, Tolk 5, Rolbiecki 4, Abby Hennen, Morgan Hennen, Jeren Rost, Yost 2 each, Stassen, Jurrens 1 each); SF Christian 18 (Lems, Tim 5 each, Wassink 3, Dejong, VanDonkersoed 2 each, Reu 1).

TURNOVERS: Minneota 13; SF Christian 17.

STEALS: Minneota 12 (Abby Hennen, Abby Rost 4 each, Yost 3, Morgan Hennen 1); SF Christian 3 (DeJong, Lems, Olsen 1 each).

ASSISTS: Minneota 14 (Tolk, J. Rost, A. Hennen 3 each, M. Hennen, A. Rost, Yost 1 each; Stassen 2); SF Christian 5 (Lems 2, Dejong, Reu, Tims 1 each).

BLOCKS: Minneota 1 (Morgan Hennen); SF Christian 2 (Tims 2).