Girls basketball: Turnovers, cold shooting lead to Cardinal defeat
WILLMAR —No. 7-rated Mankato East showed it is one of the teams to beat in Section 2AAA on Tuesday while rolling over Willmar 51-37 in girls basketball.
Both teams took 57 shots but the Cougars (13-3) made 23 to Willmar’s 16.
Willmar’s 28 percent shooting and a 24-8 disadvantage in turnovers spelled the difference.
“East is a good team but we can stay with them if we play up to our potential,” said coach Dustin Carlson.
Claire Ziegler, a 5-11 junior forward, supplied 18 points though she was well-guarded by Heather Horning. Allison Taylor, a 6-3 freshman, came next with 8 points.
Willmar’s top scorer was point guard Jordan Martins; she scored her team’s first five points and finished with 7. Kalley Fosso and Courtney Magnuson added 6 points each.
The Section 2AAA foes each entered the game on winning streaks — 4 for East and 3 for Willmar.
The Cougars made 6 of 7 shots to start the game, plus a free throw, for a 16-10 lead. Willmar, again, had trouble with early turnovers (24 for the game) plus East put out three forwards averaging 6-foot-1 that made it difficult to operate near the iron. East led 29-17 at half.
“We just didn’t shoot with confidence, not the way we have been during the winning streak,” said Carlson. “We just couldn’t unlock our offense. We their lead down to 6 with about 8 minutes to play but we lacked leadership at the end.”
Willmar plays its fifth straight home game Thursday vs. Rocori.
Mankato E. 51, Willmar 37
Mankato East (13-3) 29 22 — 51
Willmar (9-7) 17 20 — 37
MANKATO EAST – 23-57 FG (3-15 3-pt); 2-2 FT; 38 rebounds; 12 fouls … Scoring: Marta Anderson 3, Minisha Childress-Frederick 7, Abby Conell 6, Taylor Karge 6, Brie Satre 3, Claire Ziegler 18, Allison Taylor 8 … 3-point shots: Satre, Connell 2
WILLMAR – 16-57 FG (4-20 3-pt);1-6 FT; 35 rebounds; 8 fouls … Scoring: Courtney Magnuson 6, Kassy Linbo 3, Jordan Martins 7, McKenzie Hastad 4, Heather Horning 4, Anne Dunham 5, Kalley Fosso 6, Kaitlyn Lawler 2 … 3-point shots: Linbo 1, Martins 1, Fosso 2 … Rebound leaders: Fosso 7, Dunham 6, Horning 6, Hastad 4 … Assist leaders: Martins 4, Dunham 3 … Steal leaders: Horning 4, Dunham 3 … Blocked shots: Dunham 4
