×

Mavericks knock off Knights for 13th consecutive win

TRIMONT — The low post proved the key spot for the Mavericks.

Martin County West beat the Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons Knights 65-52 in the opening game of the Valley Conference Showcase to bring the Mavericks to 13 consecutive wins.

Cheyenne Owens, Karlee Thiesse and Samantha Meyer combined for 42 of the Mavericks’ points, with most of them coming off post-entry assists.

The Mavericks fell behind in the first half, with the Knights leading from the game’s first score until there was less than a minute remaining in the opening segment. The Mavericks took a lead they would keep with five seconds before the midway break.

With three minutes left before the half, the Knights led 30-22, but the Mavericks began to storm back.

Marissa Whitehead started the MCW run with a layup off a Meyer assist, then Meyer scored off a post-entry assist from Alyssa Williamson.

Dani Nelson continued the consecutive scoring off another of Williamson’s four assists, then Williamson went to the free throw line, where she made both attempts to tie the game at 30.

The Mavericks’ streak ended at eight when Erika Bute went to the free throw line for the Knights and sank both shots for two of her game-leading 29 points.

Nelson scored from the post off an assist from Meyer to tie the game again and Williamson drove through the defense and Euro-stepped to a layup with five seconds left in the first half to put the Mavericks ahead.

MCW continued its scoring run after the break, putting up 14 of the first 17 points of the second half.

MCW head coach Rodger Taylor said his team began to execute the game plan better in the second half.

“Considering it’s been nine days since we played and we only had a couple of practices, we did some nice things,” Taylor said. “We looked a little rusty at times, we were out-hustled at times, but the girls showed perseverance and came out and played a really good second half.

“We started executing better and we attacked more. We were passive early, but we attacked and used the post and did some things we were hesitant to do early on and I think that was because of the time off, but we started figuring out how to attack and we took advantage.”

Meyer contributed six of her 14 points in the span — all from the low post — while Owens stole the ball twice and made breakaway layups and sank a mid-range shot off one of Madison Klima’s game-leading six assissts.

The Mavericks went ahead by 13 with nine minutes remaining and never let the Knights back within seven.

The Mavericks’ winning streak dates back to Dec. 11 in the team’s fifth game of the year. Taylor said in that stretch, the Mavericks have kept their focus on getting better each day.

“It’s just a matter of coming together,” Taylor said. “We’ve played good, we’ve played great and we’ve played poorly during that stretch, but the thing is, when we look at it, we just want to get better every game. We ask the girls to leave it all on the floor because you can’t go back.”

MCW pocketed 11 steals in the matchup, including four from Thiesse and three from Owens, while the Knights collected nine.

Along with her steals, Owens dished out four assists and grabbed six rebounds, while Thiesse had eight rebounds, four steals and 11 points scored.

Martin County West (14-4, 9-0 Valley) plays in its second Valley Conference Showcase game at St. Clair at 7 p.m. Thursday night.

Alden-Conger/Glenville-Emmons plays host to Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial at 7 p.m. Thursday night in Glenville.

ACGE 32-20–52

MCW 34-31–65

MCW (65)

Williamson 5-9 6-6 18, Meyer 7-8 0-0 14, Thiesse 4-7 2-2 11, Whitehead 4-6 1-1 9, Owens 3-5 1-4 7, Nelson 2-2 0-0 4, Klima 1-4 0-0 2, Revland 0-3 0-0 0. Totals: 26-48 10-13 65.

ACGE (52)

Bute 8-14 7-8 29, Theusch 3-11 4-4 11, Linn 1-7 2-2 4, Anderson 1-4 0-0 3, Allison 1-3 1-2 3, Soost 0-7 0-2 0. Totals: 14-46 16-22 52.

3-pointers: MCW 3-8; ACGE 7-27 (Bute 5). Fouled out: Owens (MCW), Revland (MCW). Rebounds: MCW 22 (Thiesse 8, Owens 6, Klima 4); ACGE 18 (Miller 6, Linn 4). Assists: MCW 19 (Klima 6, Williamson 4, Owens 4); ACGE 6. Steals: MCW 11 (Thiesse 4, Owens 3); ACGE 9 (Theusch 4).

Nicollet/Mankato Loyola 65, Granada-Huntley-East Chain/Truman/ Martin Luther 50 — Grace Dehen topped a balanced scoring attack with 20 points to pace the Raiders’ 15-point win over the Jaguars during first-round Valley Showcase action Monday night in Nicollet.

Marah Hulke and Zoey Weller each netted 15 points for Nicollet/Loyola, which outscored the Jaguars by a 33-22 margin in the second half.

Rachel Stauter produced a double-double of 12 points and 10 rebounds to pace the Jaguars, while teammate Lydia Studer scored a team-leading 15 points to complement seven boards.

Eden Studer scored eight points, Michaelah Petrowiak pulled down nine rebounds and Lydia Steinhaus pocketed four steals for the Jaguars.

GHEC/Truman/Martin Luther (5-14) plays host to Cleveland at 7 p.m. Thursday night in another Showcase game in Granada.

Nicollet/Loyola (6-14) hits the road to Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton on Thursday for a 7 p.m. Showcase game.

GTML 28-22–50

N/LOY 32-33–65

Newsletter

Today's breaking news and more in your inbox

I'm interested in (please check all that apply)
Are you a paying subscriber to the newspaper? *
   

COMMENTS

[vivafbcomment]

Starting at $4.65/week.

Subscribe Today