NEW LONDON - Willmar tried to get a little momentum going in the second half, but Minnehaha Academy took it all away with a 64-49 victory on Monday night during the first round of the Wild-Card Tournament.
Garcia Gilreath scored 15 points and Lilly Thomey 11 points to lead the Redhawks.
It was a cold night shooting from the 3-point stripe for the Cardinals, as they connected on only one of 14 attempts. Despite the off night, Minnehaha Academy was only up by three going into halftime. Willmar was also cold from the free throw line, going 8 of 20 on the game.
“I don’t think we played real well in the first half, and our defensive closeouts were not up to our standards,” Willmar head coach Dustin Carlson said. “We let them have some easy shots. The positive thing was we were only down a few points and we were playing up to the level of what we should have. And they came out and started hitting a few shots and we got in a deeper hole right away.”
Minnehaha Academy outscored the Cardinals by 12 in the second half.
Lexi Orlowski had 12 points and Courtney Magnuson chipped in 11 points for Willmar.
“We are just going to have to have some fun,” said Carlson. “Just relax a little bit. And see if we can think of something team-building and some fun. Make them enjoy basketball a little bit.
Right now we are trying to coach them too hard and they haven’t been reacting the way we hoped they would.”
Willmar will play Albany for 3rd place in the tournament today at 6 p.m.
Minnehaha Academy 64, Willmar 49
MA (3-1) 25 39 - 64
Willmar (2-5) 22 27 - 49
Minnehaha Academy
20-53 FG; 20-27 FT; 19 fouls … Scoring: Taytum Rhoades 1, Mia Curtis 2, Angela Scharf 2, Tory Kronschnabel 2, Lilly Thomey 11, Garcia Gilreath 15, Megan Thurow 9, Terra Rhoades 12, Nevaeh Galloway 6, Avery New 4 … 3-point shots: Thurow 3, Rhoades 1 … Rebound leader: n/a … Assist leader: n/a … Steal leader: n/a
Willmar
20-50 FG; 8-20 FT; 21 fouls … Scoring: Courtney Hanson 2, Courtney Magnuson 11, Sarah Smith 2, Morgan Kelly 2, Cayle Hovland 3, Alycia Holwerda 4, Sydney Fischer 3, Lexi Orlowski 12, Kaitlynn Kienholz 10 … 3-point shots: Magnuson 1 … Rebound leader: Smith 5, Magnuson 4, Holwerda 4, Kienholz 4 … Assist leader: Ingrid Figenskau 4, Hanson 2, Magnuson 2, Smith 2 … Steal leader: Hanson 2
