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Warriors girls basketball tramples Bison

BUFFALO CENTER, Iowa — The Hershey Company figured out in 1928 that the Reese’s peanut butter cup proved a profitable confectionery combination.

North Union head coach Merle Tigges and Warriors assistant coach Joel Klocke discovered Friday night that junior power forward Hallie Reese and freshman center Chloe Lofstrom make a great low-post combination on the Iowa prep hardwood court.

Reese produced a double-double of a game-best 22 points and 11 rebounds, while Lofstrom netted a double-double of a game-high 13 rebounds and 11 points off the bench to power North Union to a 65-40 Top of Iowa Conference basketball victory over the North Iowa Bison in Buffalo Center.

“We like our post players to be active inside (the lane). Both (Reese and Lofstrom) played strong in the paint and used their quickness to get North Iowa in early foul trouble,” said Tigges. “We like using twin towers on the floor.”

After Reese bookended teammate Bre Anderson’s 3-pointer with a half-hook shot and a pair of free throws for a quick 7-0 lead, Katelin Adams and Kendall Melz answered with a low-post basket and a trey, respectively, to whittle the Bison’s deficit to two with 4 minutes remaining in the opening quarter.

Enter Lofstrom. The Warriors’ freshman center combined with Reese to produce 11 points during the green-and-white’s ensuing 19-0 scoring surge that bridged the quarter break and built a 26-5 edge.

Samantha Hagedorn threaded one of her four assists to Reese for a low-post turnaround before Bre Anderson sank two free throws to trigger the double-figure run.

Kate Anderson distributed one of her game-best five assists to Reese for a leaner in the lane before Bre Anderson transformed a steal into a layup.

Kate Anderson’s penetrate-and-spin move set up Reese’s low-post jumper before Lofstrom cashed in Maddie Rolling’s entry pass for a baseline leaner.

Lofstrom then crashed the offensive glass for a putback-plus en route to a traditional 3-point play for a 22-5 lead with 54 seconds left in the first frame. Bre Anderson then lobbed a pass to Rory McClellan for a low-post basket to close out the first quarter with a 19-point lead.

Rolling’s steal-turned-layup opened the second-quarter scoring for the Warriors before Rebekah Jensvold ended the Bison’s 5-minute scoring drought with a 15-foot jumper.

Trailing 38-20 at halftime, Katelin Adams and Taylen Hinders combined for back-to-back baskets in the lane to inch North Iowa within 14 to open the third quarter.

Bre Anderson and Alexis Valvick, however, connected from 3-point range later in the third to build a 24-point lead prior to the start of the final quarter.

Valvick and Bre Anderson each finished with 10 points for the Warriors, while Rachel Hassebroek scored 13 points to top the Bison. Adams chipped in 10 points.

North Union (2-0) plays host to Forest City, Iowa, on Tuesday night in Armstrong, while North Iowa (0-3) plays host to Rockford, Iowa, in Buffalo Center.

NU    24   14  17  10 — 65

NI        5  15  11    9 — 40

NORTH UNION (65)

Hagedorn 0-5 0-2 0, K. Anderson 2-4 0-0 4, Reese 10-14 2-2 22, Valvick 4-9 0-0 10, B. Anderson 3-9 2-2 10, Rolling 1-2 1-3 3, Lofstrom 4-9 3-3 11, McClellan 2-5 0-2 4, Morphew 0-1 0-0 0, Goraczkowski 0-3 0-0 0, Prochniak 0-0 1-2 1. Totals 26-61 9-16 65.

NORTH IOWA (40)

Melz 1-7 0-0 3, Hinders 2-5 0-1 4, Adams 3-6 4-5 10, Schutter 1-11 0-0 2, Hassebroek 3-6 5-6 13, Yegge 0-7 2-2 2, R. Jensvold 1-1 0-0 2, Bengtson 2-2 0-0 4, M. Jensvold 0-0 0-2 0. Totals 13-45 11-16 40.

3-pointers: No. Union 4-12 (Valvick 2-5, B. Anderson 2-5, Hagedorn 0-2); No. Iowa 3-13 (Hassebroek 2-3, Melz 1-3, Yegge 0-4, Schutter 0-3). Fouled out: Hagedorn. Rebounds. N. Union 43 (Lofstrom 13, Reese 11); N. Iowa 28 (Schutter 6). Assists: N. Union 16 (K. Anderson 5, Hagedorn 4); N. Iowa 7 (Melz 4). Steals: N. Iowa 10; N. Union 8.

Waseca 62, Fairmont 44 — Madison Gehloff scored a game-best 20 points to guide the Bluejays to an 18-point Big South Conference victory over the Cardinals on Friday night in Waseca.

Emily Karsten generated 11 points for Waseca, which made 8 of 11 free throws on the game.

Brooke Hunwardsen topped Fairmont for a second straight game by scoring 15 points to complement a team-best three steals.

Abby DeWitt collected eight points and distributed three assists for the Cardinals, Alli Lardy contributed eight points, while Brenna Cutler tallied four points and pulled down seven boards.

Claire Cutler netted four points, while teammate Taylor Crissinger hauled in a team-high 10 rebounds to go with three points for Fairmont.

The Cardinals made 13 of 26 shots from 2-point range for 50 percent, 4 of 13 behind the 3-point arc and 6 of 9 at the free throw line.

Fairmont (0-2) travels to Windom Area on Tuesday night, while Waseca (2-0) hits the road to Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.

Fairmont     19-25–44

Waseca        36-26–62

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