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Otter shed ‘Jackets 88-30
Published 10:25am Friday, December 28, 2012The Fergus Falls girls basketball team kept their unbeaten string going in style as they they scored 21 unanswered points and rolled on from there to an 88-30 victory over the Perham Yellowjackets in their first game of the Birak Shrine Club Holiday Tournament hosted at the Kennedy Secondary School Gold Gym Thursday night.
It was defense, more defense, and then some more defense for the Otters. They created a season high 32 turnovers by the Yellowjackets with 19 of them straight steals. Many of those turnovers led to easy transition baskets and the Otters never looked back as they sprinted to a 50-15 halftime lead and tacked on another 38 points with most of the minutes by bench players in the second half.
Besides the significant turnover difference, the Otters also out-rebounded Perham 31-17, having more offensive rebounds (19) than Perham had in total rebounds.
Anna Monke led the charge in that regard, pulling down six offensive rebounds out of her team leading total of eight overall boards. Three of those offensive rebounds were on missed free-throws which Monke converted into put-back baskets each time, adding to her total of 14 points on the night. Kristin Traiser also did damage inside, with a total of 15 points, some of which came on transitions plays where she either stole the ball and went all the way or ran the floor and received a nice assist for an easy lay-in.
But it wouldn’t be a night of Otter basketball if Brianna Rasmusson and Bailey Strand didn’t provide the overall offensive spark, which they did again tonight. Rasmusson finished with a team high 18 points, 12 of them on four of her patented high-arcing treys, and the rest coming on drives to the basket for lay-ins.
Strand hit some two’s, some three’s and some free throws to steadily add to her 15 point total throughout the night. The result for the Otters was four starters in double figures while five other players came off the bench to score to reach the team total of 88.
Perham had only one player, Miranda Lockhart, in double figures with 12 points.
Fergus Falls had another great night of passing with 24 assisted baskets, led by Rasmusson’s eight assists while Strand tossed four more. The Otters also blocked seven shots, with Hanna Swenson coming off the bench due to an ankle injury and swatting away four Perham shots. Fergus Falls shot a hot 55 percent from the floor overall while holding Perham to 37 percent shooting.
“I thought our girls came out and played hard defensively tonight,” commented Otter coach Brad Strand. “I was happy with our unselfish play, moving the ball well, finding the open player and getting her the ball for a nice assist total. We were glad everyone got a chance to play in the Holiday Tournament. We know we will have a huge challenge in our next game against an excellent Mt. Iron-Buhl team that is the top team in class A.”
The Otter JV girls also won their game earlier in the day against Perham. Using a full court press, they caused a total of 26 turnovers and led 29-9 at halftime on their way to a 44-23 victory. Eight players scored in balanced attack for the Otters, led by Amber Boese with 12 points.
Boese also led the Otters with six steals and had six rebounds for a nice stat line. Annah Pajari came off the bench to lead the Otters on the boards with seven.
The Otters girls will play Moutain Iron-Buhl for the Holiday Tournament championship in a class battle of No. 1 teams as Fergus Falls (Class AAA) hosts the Rangers (Class A) Friday night at 6 p.m.
