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PREP BOYS BASKETBALL: Chargers outrun Wabasso in first half, 69-42

Photo by Brennen Rupp WWG’s Anthony Ross tries to get past a Wabasso defender during their game on Thursday. The Chargers defeated the Rabbits 69-42.

WESTBROOK – The Westbrook-Walnut Grove Chargers did their best impersonation of the Golden State Warriors on Thursday. The Chargers hit 11 3-pointers en route to a 69-42 victory over the visiting Wabasso Rabbits.

“We haven’t been making them so far in the first few games,” WWG coach Derrick Jenniges said. “We let them know that we had to keep shooting them. Sometimes it was an extra pass that created a better opportunity. We were more in rhythm tonight. When one guy starts making them it’s kind of contagious. I think that was the case tonight.”

In the game’s opening minutes neither team could find the bottom of the net, as both teams struggled to get open looks at the basket. WWG’s Matt DePrez opened the scoring for the Chargers and went on to score the team’s first six points to put the Chargers up 6-0.

With the Chargers holding a 10-0 lead the Rabbits finally got on the board with 12 minutes left to play in the first half to cut WWG’s lead to 10-2. Jenniges said the key to his team’s strong start defensively was communication.

“It was a lot about communication for us,” Jenniges said. “We tried a lot of different stuff. We had a player back that hadn’t played in the first few games. We’ve been trying to figure out the combinations, and tonight we were able to use a couple timeouts and mix some stuff up. I think the guys were more in tune tonight.”

A Cooper Taylor 3-pointer cut WWG’s lead to 11-5. The next time down the floor the Rabbits hit another 3-pointer. This time it was from Jacob Plaetz to trim WWG’s lead to 11-8.

The Chargers answered back with a pair of 3-pointer of their own. Tyson Elzenga hit his first 3-pointer of the night to put WWG up 14-10. Andrew Quade followed suit with his first 3-pointer to put WWG up 17-10. Quade hit two more 3-pointers in the first half and helped the Chargers take a 33-19 lead into the locker room.

Elzenga opened the scoring in the second half with a 3-pointer to give the Chargers a 36-19 lead. That 3-pointer started a 10-0 run for the Chargers to open the lead up to 43-19. Elzenga went on to hit three more 3-pointers in the second half.

“I thought we moved the ball really well as a team,” Jenniges said. “We took a few chances. We are okay with taking chances, sometimes they don’t go our way.”

Elzenga finished the game with a team-leading 20 points. Quade finished with 14 points, nine assists and four steals. DePrez scored 14 points.

Brock Rohlik led the Rabbits with eight points. Cooper Taylor finished with six points and six rebounds. Tony Franta scored six points and grabbed six rebounds.

With the win the Chargers are now 2-2 overall. They’ll look to make it three in a row tonight when they travel to Ellsworth to take on the Panthers.

“We have to go to Ellsworth,” Jenniges said. “It’s a conference opponent on the road. It’s a long trip. We have some guys that are under the weather. We want to continue to play with a good pace. We have to be better rebounders and continue to share the ball in transition.”

The loss drops the Rabbits to 0-3. They’ll look to pick up their first win of the season on Monday during their home opener against Minnesota Valley Lutheran.

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