Lady Cards pick up two L&C victories
WAUSA — The Randolph Lady Cardinals may have just found a little bit of mojo in just the nick of time.
They sure did this past week as the basketball court was the site of two big wins, first at Hartington-Newcastle, 33-31, and against Wausa, 46-33.
Against the Lady Wildcats, the Lady Cardinals chipped away after trailing 14-11 at halftime in Hartington.
Jaiden Taylor scored 13 points and Gracie Eledge and Natalie Munter each contributed eight points apiece.
In the defeat of Wausa, the Randolph girls used a 20-12 fourth quarter to cement their second straight win.
Taylor once again led the way with 19 point while Ariel Fye chipped in with 11 points and Emmalee Harder added five rebounds.
“Against Hartington it was a very evenly matched game,” Randolph head coach Marcus Pappenhausen said. “We knew coming into the game if we could stay focused for four quarters and keep it close that we would be able to find a way in the final quarter to sneak it out.
“We didn’t win many of the statistical quarters, but we were able to come away with the victory and the girls were excited.”
The Wausa victory saw Randolph have to overcome a bumpy start and a move to a 2-3 zone to adjust and make their move.
“The girls did a nice job defensively with that,” Pappenhausen said. “Our bench production was a big asset in this game as well. Ariel gave us 11 points off the bench and Jenna Albers chipped in five. Those bench points were something we hadn’t had this year so that was very nice to see.”
The Lady Cardinals hosted Winside Tuesday before a road trip Friday to Neigh-Oakdale.
“They are two games that we need to come out and play very strong in,” Pappenhausen said. “We can’t take any plays off and need to work defensively. If we come out and work harder than the opponent, they are two games we should win. If we lose focus and play sloppy then they are going to be two very tough games.
“We look forward to taking the court this week and hope the momentum from winning our two games this week carries over.”
Of course, it all comes to a head when they Lady Cardinals head into the conference and district races.
“In regard to the conference tournament there is a group of teams that are all fighting for those seven to 10 spots,” Pappenhausen said. “We just look to take care of business this week in our two games and what happens with conference and district seeding will happen. For right now we are just taking it game by game and enjoying every moment of it.”
Albers, a senior who has put in plenty of hard work these four years, has seen the fruits of her labor take shape in her final campaign.
“I look forward to seeing her production improve in this last month of the season,” Pappenhausen said. “The team really gets behind Jenna and she really gives the team some energy when she gets in there and battles.”
Albers said that with this being her last year she would give it her all.
“I would give my effort and put everything into it so I could have my best years,” Albers said. “I did do a lot this summer – shooting around at home and any camps we could do but that was obviously limited – and at open gym the weightlifting helped during the offseason to get ready.
“I feel pretty good about how I am playing lately. At the beginning of the season, I wasn’t playing as well as I am now, so I have grown during it.”
The recent run of positives for the Lady Cardinals has also been a good shot in the arm.
“We are figuring out that having confidence in ourselves helped,” Albers said. “We didn’t have that at the beginning of the season, and we had that when we went to shoot or to play defense or running plays. We had confidence in ourselves and our teammates as well.
“We’re hungry now. Hopefully we can get Winside and Neligh this week. Everyone is out there to win now and we have the right mindset.”
SCORING Randolph - Jaiden Taylor, 13; Gracie Eledge, 8; Natalie Munter, 8; Keely Pinkelman, 4. HNS - Alivia Morten, 10; Kayden Jueden, 8; Zoey Gratzfeld, 4; Mani Lange, 4; Keanna Korth, 2; Makenna Clarkson, 2.
REBOUNDS Randolph - Keely Pinkelman, 6; Gracie Eledge, 5; Emmalee Harder, 5; Natalie Munter, 4; Jaiden Taylor, 3; Arial Fye, 2; Grace Nordhues, 2; Erin Engel, 1. HNS - Kayden Jueden, 8; Alivia Morten, 6; Mani Lange, 5; Zoey Gratzfeld, 5; Keanna Korth, 4; Delaney Sudbeck, 3.
ASSISTS Randolph - Jaiden Taylor, 2; Emmalee Harder, 2; Gracie Eledge, 1; Natalie Munter, 1. HNS - Mani Lange, 1; Keanna Korth, 1; Delaney Sudbeck, 1.
STEALS Randolph - Jaiden Taylor, 4; Grace Nordhues, 3; Natalie Munter, 2; Emmalee Harder, 2; Gracie Eledge, 1; Keely Pinkelman, 1; Ariel Fye, 1. HNS Alivia Morten, 3; Kayden Jueden, 2; Mani Lange, 1; Zoey Gratzfeld, 1; Keanna Korth, 1; Delaney Sudbeck, 1.
SCORING Randolph - Jaiden Taylor, 19; Ariel Fye, 11; Jenna Albers, 5; Gracie Eledge, 4; Keely Pinkelman, 3; Erin Engel, 3; Natalie Munter, 1.
REBOUNDS Randolph - Emmalee Harder, 7; Jenna Albers, 6; Jaiden Taylor, 6; Keely Pinkelman, 4; Erin Engel, 4; Ariel Fye, 2; Gracie Eledge, 2; Natalie Munter, 2; Emma Munter, 1.
ASSISTS Randolph - Emmalee Harder, 4; Jenna Albers, 1; Natalie Munter, 1.
STEALS Randolph - Jaiden Taylor, 5; Gracie Eledge, 2; Keely Pinkelman, 2; Jenna Albers, 1; Ariel Fye, 1; Natalie Munter, 1.
Stay in the know!
To get news alerts on your cell phone, get the Cedar County News app in the ITunes store or in the Google Play Store.
