Dec 27, 2024
Photo by Samantha Davis. Westbrook Walnut Grove’s Natalie Wahl runs the offense in the second half against Canby at the Holiday Classic tournament in Marshall at Southwest Minnesota State University Friday afternoon. Wahl finished with 7 points in the Chargers’ 35-21 victory.
MARSHALL — A strong defensive effort helped the Westbrook-Walnut Grove girls basketball team limit Canby’s offense in a 35-21 victory Friday afternoon at the Holiday Classic Tournament at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall.
“I was really proud of our defensive effort,” WWG head coach Dan Klumper said. “We were just really focused on playing solid man-to-man defense, making sure we had a hand in their face, making sure we were staying down, and making sure everything was tough for them.”
Junior Leah Carter led the way for WWG with 16 points. Senior Natalie Wahl followed with 7 points — all in the first half — and Riley Parker added another 7.
For Canby, Brynn Kockelman had a team-high 8 points while Ava Danielson tallied 7.
WWG pulled away midway through the first half and never let off the gas. Although facing some second-half troubles with a press, WWG made up for turnovers with its defense and limited Canby to 11 points in the final 18 minutes.
The Lancers and Chargers have both been on exceptional strides recently. Canby entered on a four-game winning streak, three of which have been decided by 23 or more points, after dropping its first three games of the season.
WWG came in with only two losses on the season, falling to Lakeview on Dec. 14 by 4 points and to MACCRAY 47-33 in its season opener.
Wahl got WWG’s offense going with a field goal and was a primary playmaker the rest of the way. She finished the first half leading all scorers with 7 points.
“She’s [Wahl] just a warrior, and she’s been with me since she was an eighth grader,” Klumper said. “We’ve been together a long time, so I’m just super proud of Natalie’s effort every game … She got a couple shots to fall. They were making it really hard for us in the post because of how much they sunk down on Leah and Riley, so to get a couple outside shots was big.”
In response to Wahl’s opening bucket, Canby’s Kockelman made a jump shot.
The Chargers jumped to an early 10-6 lead after a Wahl 3-pointer, but Danielson brought it back within a possession with a short jumper on the baseline.
Carter hit a shot for WWG at the top of the lane to end a scoring drought that spanned over a few minutes, followed with a 3-pointer from Leah VanDeWiele as the Chargers began to pull away.
In the final minute of the half, Wahl made another field goal to send WWG to the locker room with a 20-10 advantage.
The first three minutes of the second half was scoreless until Parker got a feed inside at the low post to get the Chargers’ offense going again.
Canby however, was unable to get a basket for just over six minutes until Kockelman drove the lane inside for a layup.
Canby began to press full-court and flustered WWG by grabbing back-to-back steals, and forced the Chargers out of bounds. Despite the press success, the Lancers struggled to turn it into points on the other end.
“That’s [facing a press] one thing that we definitely have to keep getting better at throughout the season,” Klumper said. “Our guards are fairly inexperienced. From last year, we graduated pretty much all the guards, so they just need to slow down … I thought my girls just kept their poise, figured it out, and kept getting a little bit better as the game went on with the press. So, it didn’t really hurt us too much.”
WWG began to break the press with stronger passes up the court to find an open Carter inside the lane on a miss-match.
Carter was the tallest player on the court, standing at 6-foot-1.
“Leah was an absolute warrior in the paint. Once again, she gets so many hands and arms flying at her when the ball goes down to her in the low post, and she never complains,” Klumper said. “She just keeps fighting, she keeps at it. I feel like sometimes you could get frustrated when you’re not getting some calls and when you feel like you’re getting fouled … Really proud of her effort once again.”
WWG’s offense didn’t slow down, as the players began to smile running back on defense with a 19-point lead with just over a minute to go after Carter made another shot at the block.
Canby got one more steal off its press which resulted in an Emily Nelson jumper in the final seconds of the game.
Carter returned the favor and got a steal with 10 seconds to go to give the Chargers the ball back, which ultimately sealed the game away.
“I thought we did a pretty good job of playing defense and keeping their shooters from feeling comfortable and getting into a rhythm,” Klumper said. “I feel like our defense made them uncomfortable and just never found that rhythm on offense. That’s important to a good shooting team. Super proud of my girl’s effort on defense.”
WWG (8-2) will return to the court in the new year when it takes on Southwest Minnesota Christian (6-2) on Jan. 2 at 7:30 p.m.
Canby (4-4) will play again today in the second day of the tournament, and face Edgerton (5-4) at 2 p.m. at SMSU’s R/A Facility.
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