Lady Vikes are getting ready for Post-Holiday Tourney
CREIGHTON — The Wausa Lady Vikings basketball team is battling away with a 2-7 record coming out of the holidays, but maybe they are about to turn the corner.
The Lady Vikings dropped a competitive, 55-48, decision against Bloomfield in the opening round of the Creighton Tournament and then dropped a 53-35 decision to the hosts in the third-place game.
However, they were two tough losses against a couple of plus-.500 sides.
“Two things that did not help us in the end against Bloomfield was rebounding and poor defensive play,” Wausa head coach Brandon Kirby said. “The Creighton tournament is always a struggle because we are coming off of a five-day break. It is extremely hard to turn around have one practice and go perform at a high level.
“However, I have to give the girls props for going all out and making it a game late.”
Brooke Kumm had 13 points and four assists, Blair Wakeley scored 10 points and Anika Alonzo added eight points. Abby Kaiser added eight rebounds, five assists and four steals.
A slow start did the Lady Vikings under against Creighton, trailing 14-2 out of the gate.
“After we got our legs underneath us, we pulled it back to a 19-17 deep in the second,” Kirby said. “In the third we were not able to close the halftime gap and could only muster four points in the fourth. Rebounding and turnovers did not treat us well in this game.”
“I will say the girls did a much better job of running the offense and playing the game we wanted to play. But we are not going to win very many games if we turn the ball over and get outrebounded.”
Wausa, which also hit only one of seven free throws, was led by Wakeley, 11 points, Kumm, five points, four steals and Alonzo, five points.
“The most important stats a basketball team should ever be concerned about is rebounds, turnovers, and free-throws,” Kirby said. “So, we lost in all three of those areas and it showed on the scoreboard.”
The Lady Vikings will return to the court for the Wausa Post Holiday Tournament which tips off Thursday with a boys/girls doubleheader with Niobrara/Verdigre. The girls are expected to tip off at 6:15 p.m. Friday, the LHNE-Osmond teams will battle it out with the finals scheduled for 4 and 5:30 p.m. Saturday following the third-place games.
They travel to Santee next Tuesday “Our girls are good ball players, but we have a tendency to get in our own ways,” Kirby said. “We have got to clean-up the boards. It is something we practice every day and harp on. I think at the end of the day a ball player that is savvy enough decides to go get the ball in the air at all costs, we need to be that savvy. Second chance points are an area that if any team watches film, could hurt us.”
“Another area is turnovers: We can’t put the ball in the hoop if we are giving the ball to the other team. I simply do the math on this one, if we give the ball away 25 times a game, we are giving the other team 25 chances to score.”
Kirby also would like to see his girls get to the charity stripe more.
“We tend to be afraid of contact and take more outside shots,” Kirby said. “All in all, we need to get more physical. Physicality is the common factor in all three areas. We must do better if we want to start winning ball games.”
Kirby said the break can slow a team down but was happy with the girls efforts.
He also noted the performance of Wakeley.
“Blair was able to step up and score for us more constantly this tournament and Brooke is playing above our expectations,” Kirby said. “Blair is a sophomore and has done a lot to prepare herself to play at a high level this year. She did a lot in the offseason.”
Wakeley admits she plays basketball for the love of the game and as an emotional outlet.
Her work has provided a nice offensive outlet for the Lady Vikings.
“I went to D league over the summer and that helped me a lot, especially with my shooting,” Wakeley said. “I go to the gym a lot and try to get a lot of shots up. I like the game a lot. I look up to USD a lot and I would like to be like some of their players. I like how they are a good team and get along together.”
“I did pretty good (last week) except for the Bloomfield game when I got two fouls in the first quarter. Later, I started shooting more and they went in.”
SCORING
WAUSA - Brooke Kumm, 13; Blair Wakeley, 10; Anika Alonzo, 8; Morgan Kleinschmit, 6; Ashlynn Timmeran, 6; Alexa Cunningham, 4; Kylee Thorell, 1.
Rebounds
WAUSA - Abby Kaiser, 8; Morgan Kleinschmit, 7; Alexa Cunningham, 4; Brooke Kumm, 2; Anika Alonzo, 2; Blair Wakeley, 1; Kylee Thorell, 1; Ashlynn Timmerman, 1; Clara Schindler, 1.
ASSISTS
WAUSA - Abby Kaiser, 5; Brooke Kumm, 4; Anika Alonzo, 2; Ashlynn Timmerman, 1; Alexa Cunningham, 1; Clara Schindler, 1.
STEALS
WAUSA - Abby Kaiser, 4; Morgan Kleinschmit, 3; Ashlynn Timmerman, 1; Brooke Kumm, 1.
SCORING
WAUSA - Blair Wakeley, 11; Morgan Kleinschmit, 6; Brooke Kumm, 5; Anika Alonzo, 5; Ashlynn Timmeran, 3; Clara Schindler, 3; Alexa Cunningham, 2.
Rebounds
WAUSA - Morgan Kleinschmit, 4; Blair Wakeley, 3; Brooke Kumm, 3; Alexa Cunningham, 2; Anika Alonzo, 2; Abby Kaiser, 1; Ashlynn Timmerman, 1; Charlie Price, 1; Emily Wookman, 1.
ASSISTS
WAUSA - Anika Alonzo, 3; Ashlynn Timmerman, 2; Blair Wakeley, 1; Morgan Kleinschmit, 1; Kylee Thorell, 1; Charlie Price, 1; Brooke Kumm, 1.
STEALS
WAUSA - Brooke Kumm, 4; Abby Kaiser, 2; Anika Alonzo, 2; Ashlynn Timmerman, 1; Blair Wakeley, 1.
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