Viking girls waltz past Dawson-Boyd
Sometimes coaches have turn themselves from tacticians into confidence builders.
Such is the case of Minneota girls' basketball Coach Chad Johnston.
"This team continues to grow with confidence," he said after Friday's impressive 76-49 win over Dawson-Boyd.
Rather than play to the level of the other team, the Vikings came out and took a 20-8 and never looked back.
The early ignition switch on the Viking bus was Lizzy Gillingham.
She popped in 12 points in the first half — most of them early in the half and Mariah Muhl came off the bench to steal the ball, feet it to Morgan Kockelman and ity was 20-10.
The bench was a key part of the game since the coach has made a concious decision to substitute more often.
"I'm making an effort to use the reserves more often. Tonight we got a lot of support off the bench," he said. It helps them stay fresher. When you only play six or seven girls, they tire out. This way they will get a breather more often."
The Vikings are also working on getting the ball inside to Lydia Sussner. While it's been a constant message of Coach Johnston, he didn't have to reiterate it this time. "They took it upon themselves to get it done," he said proudly.
As a result, Sussner scored 18 points grabbed 12 rebounds, three assists and two steals and two blocks.
Also coming off the bench was Abby Rost, a freshman who has become known for her defense. And she added four points to the effort. "Abby has played real good defense for us. As a result, she went from playing some to playing a little more. The more I get her out there the more experience she gets."
Gillingham and Morgan Hennen each scored 14 points and Abby Hennen got 10. "Abby Hennen has figured out how to get the ball into the paint (to Sussner). And Sussner is working harder inside," the coach added.
He sees the key to her performance will be getting a breather more often. And that's where the subs come in.
After a 20-point halftime lead, it would have been easy for the Vikings to let up a little on the ignition.
But they didn't. Another reserve, Natalee Rolbiecki hit four free throws and got eight points as the Vikings used 28 Dawson-Boyd turnovers and converted the mistakes into points.
Dawson-Boyd's Alex Sather fought back with a 14-point effort, including three, three-pointers. But nobody else got into double figures and it wasn't enough for the 5-8 Blackjacks.
Oh, late in the game Hidie Moorse banked in a bucket for the Vikings.
Did we say — she came off the BENCH to do it.
Minneota plays at Pipestone Monday nightMinneota 76, Dawson-Boyd 49
MINNEOTA (2’s, 3’s, FT, F, TP) Ali DeVlaeminck 0 0 0-0 0 0; Morgan Kockelman 2 0 0-0 1 4; Lizzy Gillingham 5 1 1-2 2 14; Morgan Hennen 7 0 0-0 4 14; Natalee Rolbiecki 2 0 4-4 2 8; Abby Hennen 2 2 0-0 3 10; Laura Knutson 0 0 0-0 0 0; Abby Rost 2 0 0-0 1 4; Mariah Muhl 1 0 0-0 2; Carolyn Hoffman 0 0 0-0 0 0; Madison Sorensen 0 0 0-0 1 0; Katie Konold 0 0 0-0 0 0; Lydia Sussner 7 0 407 0 18; Hidie Moorse 1 0 0-0 0 2. Totals 29 3 9-13 10 76.
DAWSON-BOYD (2’s, 3’s, FT, F, TP) Avery Bartunek 1 0 4-6 3 5; Gionna Parsa 2 1 1-1 1 8;Hannah stelter 0 1 0-0 2 3; Morgan Johnson 1 1 0-0 0 5; Mary Bothun 1 0 1-4 1 3; Alex Sather 0 3 5-7 4 14; Jenna Wyum 0 2 0-0 3 6; Kelcee Spencer 1 0 0-0 0 2; Olivia Stratmoen 1 0 0-0 0 2. Totals 7 8 15-51 14 49.
Score by Halves
D-B 21 28 — 49
Minneota 41 35 — 76
Statistics:
SHOOTING: Minneota (2’s 29 of 65 for 45 percent; 3’s 3 of 10 for 30 percent; overall 32 of 75 for 43 percent); D-B (2’s 7 of 31 for 23 percent; 3’s 8 of 20 for 40 percent; overall 15 of 51 for 29 percent).
FREE THROWS: Minneota 9 of 13 for 69 percent; D-B 11 of 17 for 65 percent.
REBOUNDS: Minneota 41 (Sussner 12, Gillingham 10; A. Hennen, Kockelman, Muhl 4 each; M. Hennen, Rost 2 each; Rolbiecki, Sorensen, Konold 1 each); D-B 24 (Sather, Bothun 6 each; Johnson 4, Bartunek 3).
TURNOVERS: Minneota 16; D-B 28.
STEALS: Minneota 17 Muhl 4, M. Hennen 3; Rost, Sussner, Kockelman, Gillingham 2 each; DeVlaeminck, Roliecki 1 each); D-B 6 (Stelter 2).
ASSISTS: Minneota 17 (Gillingham, Kockelman, Muhl, Sussner 3 each; Rolbiecki 2; Sorensen, A. Hennen, M. Hennen 1 each); D-B 6 (Sather 2).
BLOCKS: Minneota 2 (Sussner 2); D-B 1 (Frank).
B SQUAD: Minneota 47, Dawson-Boyd 18.