WILLMAR - Down 33-30 at halftime, the Worthington Trojans girls basketball team went on a 17-4 run in the second half to down host Willmar Friday night, 66-50.
It was in many respects a tale of two halves.
Willmar hit six three-point shots in the first half while holding the Trojans scoreless from three-point range. Worthington’s zone defense suffered from poor rotation as well.
Neither team took control early in the second half. The score was 40-40 at one point.
But when Worthington’s senior forward Paige Gravenhof hit the team’s first three-point shot of the night with 6:46 remaining, the visitors pulled ahead 47-46. Several minutes later the margin was 61-50 in the Trojans’ favor.
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Trojans head coach Eric Lindner said his team may have been surprised at the Cardinals’ physical play in the first half.
“Our kids are usually the ones dictating physicality in the game,” he said. “It was good that we responded to that.”
Brooke Henning led Worthington with 18 points. Ana Boever had 13, Gravenhof 12 and Apiew Alwal 10.
Boever had six steals and Gravenhof had five. Abbie Landgaard had eight assists. Henning and Apiew Alwal recorded seven rebounds apiece.
Worthington amassed 16 steals in the game.
Willmar had 22 turnovers to Worthington’s 15.
Willmar, who was led by Courtney Magnuson’s 15 points, falls to 10-13 on the season.
Worthington, 20-2, will play its last regular season game of the season Monday at Redwood Valley. The seeding for Section 2AAA will take place on Wednesday.
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Worthington 30 66
Willmar 33 50
WORTHINGTON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) - Boever 0-6-1-13, Landgaard 0-2-2-6, Henning 0-9-2-18, Linder 0-0-1-1, Gravenhof 2-3-0-12, Ac. Alwal 0-1-2-4, Ap. Alwal 0-5-0-10. Totals 2-26-8-66.
WILLMAR (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) - Magnuson 0-7-1-15, Rudnick 0-2-0-4, Martins 1-1-3-8, Hovland 0-0-2-2, Ruter 2-0-0-6, Fosso 2-2-0-10, Doering 1-1-0-5. Totals 6-13-6-50.
