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Girls basketball roundup: Otters register first win of season
Published 3:46pm Saturday, December 12, 2009After a slow start in its first two games, the Fergus Falls girls basketball team came out on fire against Little Falls Friday night, beating the Flyers 60-48 in a Central Lakes Conference contest.
“I thought we played well tonight,” Otters’ coach Josh Mohagen said. “Our hustle to loose ball really made a difference tonight.”
Emily Olson also helped the cause.
The 5-foot-9 senior guard drained a career-high 24 points while helping the Otters generate a sizable 38-25 halftime lead.
“She attacked the basket well,” Mohagen said. “Many of those buckets came on outlet passes from Mariah and Anna Monke.”
Though the Otters (1-2 overall, 1-1 CLC) lost the turnover battle 20-13, Fergus Falls finished strong from the field, connecting on 24 of 54 attempts. The Otters also made 9 of 14 shots from the free throw line and 3 of 6 shots from beyond the arc.
“This game was similar to the Willmar game in that we came out with great energy and attacked on defense,” Mohagen said. “We also did a great job rebounding the ball.”
The Otters out-rebounded the Flyers 41-25.
Mariah Monke contributed 12 points and eight rebounds for the Otters while Anna Monke chipped in with six points and a game-high 10 rebounds.
Whitney Weisz led all scorers with 25 points.
Underwood 53, Rothsay 34
UNDERWOOD — The Rockets out-rebounded the Tigers 34-19 and made 42 percent of their shots, easing to a comfortable Little Eight Conference victory.
Despite the rather one-sided score, Underwood head coach Brian Hovland knows his team will need to shore a few things up before its confrontation with state-ranked Parkers Prairie next Friday.
“We didn’t shoot free throws very well tonight,” Hovland said of the Rockets’ 5-for-17 effort from the stripe. “There are a number of things that we need to improve on before we play Parkers Prairie. They are going to really be our first test of the season. We are going to find out what we are made of very soon.”
Aside from future Gopher Sari Noga, Hovland says there are a number of players on the Panthers’ team that can hurt his squad.
“Parkers is going to be able to send five players on the floor that can score,” he said. “We also need to hold Sari (Noga) in check. Keeping his under 20 points will be important.”
No. 4 P.Prairie 75,
No. 7 B-E 37
PARKERS PRAIRIE— Class 1A and Little Eight Conference powers clashed Friday night — and it was ugly.
Parkers Prairie was fueled by a huge performance from University of Minnesota commit Sari Noga, who finished with 30 points and 17 rebounds.
“They were clicking on all cylinders and were clearly the better team tonight,” Chargers’ coach Dick Simpson said.
Heather Strese finished with a team-best 18 points for the Chargers.
Brandon-Evansville (3-1) was doomed by a 4 of 28 second half shooting performance from the field.
The Panthers, who shot 46 percent from the field, had four players finish in double figures.
The Chargers look to bounce back Tuesday at Melrose while the Panthers (2-0) host a game Underwood squad next Friday.
Pelican Rapids 59, Barnesville 34
No individual statistics reported.
