MJH Girl's Basketball Team Takes on Bennington
by Leslie Baker
November 19, 2007
The MJH girls’ B-team took on the Bennington Bulldogs in their first contest of the year. The Lions got off to a slow start and went into half-time down by a score of 2-10. They came out in a full court press in the 2nd half, which led to several steals that were converted into baskets for the Lions. “The girls looked great in their press. We had only worked on it a few times in practice, but I was impressed by their hustle,” said Coach Wedel. Minneapolis ended up losing the game by a narrow margin, scoring 13 points to Bennington’s 15. Scorers for the Lady Lions were MacKenzie Zimmerman with six, Dina Lyne four, Jackie Conway added two, and Alyssa Smith with one point. The final score of the varsity contest was 52 to 12. Scoring for the Lions were Kara Fraser 2, Katie Paige 6, Ally Steinbrock 9, Ashlyn Macy 10, Jacy Crosson 11 and Kelsie Paige 14.
In their first game of the season, the Minneapolis C-team faced the Beloit Trojans. The C-team was ready to put their skills to the test, having watched both the varsity and Jr. varsity in previous competitions already this season. The C-team played just 2 quarters against Beloit and lost by a score of 2-6. “I was proud of the girls for the amount of effort they gave during this game. Most of these girls have never played basketball before, and I can’t wait to see how much we improve throughout the season,” said Coach Wedel. Natalie Saum was the lone scorer for the Lady Lions with two points.
In B-Team action, the Beloit Trojans proved to be worthy opponents. The Lions fought hard and went into half-time with a slight lead. In the second half, they gained momentum and increased their lead by 10. However, Beloit was not to be overlooked. The Trojans fought back, coming within two points of the Lions midway in the fourth quarter. But the Lions did not let down. They finished strong and won by a score of 26-21 over Beloit. “I was extremely proud of the girls and how determined they were not to let this game slip past us. They showed a lot of composure when things got close late in the game,” stated Coach Wedel. Scoring for the Lions was Zimmerman with seven, Smith and Lyne each added five points, Shayla Fuller had three, and Conway, Casey Carson, and Lindsey Abel all put in two points each.
The varsity beat Beloit 31-21. “The Trojans beat us earlier in the season by nine and so I was very proud of the girls’ preparation and focus in beating this team. They worked on a lot of adjustments and executed our game plan extremely well,” commented Coach Baker. Scoring were Zimmerman and Crosson two each, Fraser and Macy three each, Steinbrock four, Katie Paige six, and Kelsie Paige 11.
