Lady Cardinals top Walthill for their first victory
Randolph’s girls basketball team can finally breathe a big sigh of relief.
That’s because the Randolph girls finally broke through into the win column after a dramatic 55-46 win over Walthill in the seventh place game of the Lewis and Clark tournament Clark Division bracket and are now 1-18 this season with one more week of regular season games left as the sub-district tournament will begin next week.
The win, regardless of the level of talent Walthill did or did not possess was big for the sake of simply getting the big zero changed to a “1” as the campaign winds down.
Jessa Backer noted the team’s happiness in finally getting in the win column.
“We played a lot better as a team and that helps a lot,” Backer said. “It did feel good just to win a game since we lost some that we should have won. It was definitely good for the whole team and coaches. They didn’t have the best record either, so we knew we had to come out stronger than them and play hard as a team the whole time.
“We had our moments, but other that, we played good the whole game. Toward the end, Walthill got more tired than us. It came down to who wanted it more.”
Backer said the reaction was a combination of relief and excitement.
It was a nice bounce back from the 62-46 defeat to Tri County Northeast in the consolation semifinals.
Erin Engel (20 points, 14 rebounds), Backer (15 points) and Ella Scott (10 points, 11 rebounds) spearheaded the Randolph win.
Scott recorded 24 points and 12 rebounds while Mal Vallejo and Emma Munter both contributed six points against Winnebago.
“During the conference tournament we had Erin with two games with 20 plus points (combined) and Ella Scott had two double-double games,” Randolph head coach Marcus Pappenhausen said. “I was proud of the teams effort throughout the tournament and it was good to finally get the first win of the season.
“Still things we need to fix, but if we can give that effort hopefully, we can get a couple more wins before the season is over.”
Backer said the win gives the Lady Cardinals more drive going into the final chapters of the season.
“It shows we can do it and we just need to work hard as a team to get it done every game,” Backer said. “I think we believe there is still basketball left to play and we still have to get it done. Our mentality is we have to keep going and get it done.”
It doesn’t hurt the team now has nine able bodies after a long stretch of having only six to play.
“It helps that we have a bench just to cheer us on and to get a sub just to get a break,” Backer said. “If someone is not playing the best or needs a break in general, you can take a minute or whatever you need.”
ALLEN - The Randolph Lady Cardinals dropped their 18th game of the season and the second in the Lewis & Clark Conference Tournament to Tri County Northeast 62-42 in the consolation bracket of the tourney here on Feb. 1.
The problems started early for the Lady Cardinals as the Wolfpack opened a 10-point advantage in the opening eight minutes behind 10 from 1,000-point scorer Jordyn Carr, who would finish the night with a game-high 33.
Ella Scott did convert a traditional three-point play with 6:29 left in the opening quarter to give Randolph a 3-2 lead.
The Wolfpack scored again but Scott answered and again was fouled but failed to convert the charity toss to leave the score evened, 5-5.
With the score 10-5, Scott, who paced the Lady Cardinals with 24 points in the contest, scored to make it 10-7 and got Randolph back to withing a single possession.
“We have seen some improvement,” Randolph coach Marcus Papenhausen said. “We need to come around and get better and better.”
Randolph would get back to 11-9 with a fast break layup by Malen Vallejo with 1:45 left in the first. Unfortunately, TCNE would score the final nine points in the frame and an additional eight to open the second quarter to take a 27-9 lead.
Jacey Bartels scored for Randolph with just under five minutes before the intermission to make it 32- 13 before Scott hit a short jumper with just over two minutes remaining in the half to make it 36-15.
Carr splashed a long ball then Erin Engel hit a pair of free throws with 2:00 left to make it 39-17.
Scott scored the final four points of the half converting one-of-two free throws and making good on another conventional three-point opportunity when she was fouled inside with just 21 seconds left before the break.
The ladies stayed in the game from there as the lead remained at 18 after three and ended with the 62-42 final.
“We need to get scoring from more girls at the same time,” Papenhausen said. “We do keep competing which is great - we just need to get more experience and get better.”
The Lady Cardinals play Friday at home against Stuart to wrap the regular season.
“We played Stuart in our holiday tournament,” Pappenhausen said. “They are a very good well coached team. We will have to work on taking care of the ball and being patient. Last time against them the score wasn’t pretty. Hopefully we will see improvements this time around.”
Randolph will head into D2-4 SubDistrict action Monday. Humphrey St. Francis, Riverside, St. Edward and Winside are also in that SubDistrict.
Randolph 9 12 11 10 —42 TCNE 19 20 11 12 — 62
SCORING Randolph – Ella Scott, 24; Emma Munter, 6; Mal Vallejo, 6; Jessa Backer, 2; Jacey Bartels, 2; Erin Engel, 2. Tri-County Northeast – Jordyn Carr, 33; Rhyanne Mackling, 20; Brianna Bousquet, 3; Myleah Mackling, 2; Shantel Miller, 2; Micaela Tornez, 2. REBOUNDS Randolph – Ella Scott, 13; Erin Engel, 7; Emma Munter, 7; Jacey Bartels, 3; Mal Vallejo, 3; Jessa Backer, 2; Ryanne Winkelbauer, 2. Tri-County Northeast – Jordyn Carr, 8; Brynn Schock, 7; Rhyanne Mackling, 4; Micaela Tornez, 4; Ava Anderson, 1; Brianna Bousquet, 1; Myleah Mackling, 1; Rylinn Mitchell, 1. ASSISTS Randolph – Mal Vallejo, 2; Jessa Backer, 1; Erin Engel, 1; Emma Munter, 1; Ella Scott, 1.
