Photo by Sam Thiel WWG’s Andrew Quade drives around a YME defender during their game on Saturday. The Chargers defeated the Sting 71-46.

MARSHALL – The Westbrook -Walnut Grove and Yellow Medicine East boys and girls basketball teams kicked off a string of games at Southwest Minnesota State University on Saturday with a doubleheader matchup. The Chargers and Sting earned a split in the pair of games, with the WWG boys and YME girls picking up wins.

Boys Basketball

WWG 71, YME 46

The WWG and YME boys basketball teams got the day started with a matchup that saw the Chargers take a double-digit lead at halftime before using a strong defensive performance in the second half en route to a 71-46 victory over YME.

It was tight to start the first half, with WWG holding a slim 5- 4 lead, before YME’s Jahrell Ishmon got fouled on a 3-pointer and connected on all three at the free-throw line to give the Sting a 12-11 lead with 13:41 left.

The two teams then traded points over the next several possessions, as the Chargers used a 6-1 run before YME’s Bennett Knapper answered with a 3-pointer to make it a three-point game at 20-17 midway through the first half.

That’s when WWG’s defense started to come alive. Led by multiple steals from Andrew Quade, the senior guard’s ability to read the YME defense helped the Chargers capitalize on the other end and take a double-digit lead with four minutes left. WWG would hold at least a nine-point advantage the rest of the half and take a 37-22 lead into the locker rooms.

Holding a double-digit lead going into the second half, the Chargers cranked up the defensive pressure to start the frame. That stifling presence allowed WWG to get out into transition and turn YME’s turnovers into points as the Chargers took a 52-30 lead with 11:21 left before pushing their advantage to 30 at 60-30 midway through the second half.

After going scoreless for five-plus minutes, the Sting were able to get on the board thanks to a 3-pointer from Ishmon, but WWG cruised the rest of the way for the 71-46 victory.

WWG coach Derrick Jenniges said their communication was the key to their defensive pressure in the second half and their ability to create opportunities in transition on the other end of the floor.

“For us, it’s a lot about communication; we’re fortunate to have some length so that we can protect the rim a little bit, but I thought we did a great job of defensive rebounding to limit them to one possession for most of the second half,” Jenniges said. “Also at times during the game when we needed a little push we were able to mix it up and go to some different trap combinations and some zones in the halfcourt and that’s something that we haven’t done a lot of this year and something that we’re looking to do more of in the second half of the season.”

Ethan Mischke led the way for the Chargers with 18 points while Nathan Ross added 16, Andrew Quade had 14 and Parker Freeburg chipped in 12. Mischke also led in rebounds with nine while Quade led in assists with nine.

Knapper led the way for the Sting with 18 points while Ishmon added 13 and Dalton Anderson had 10.

YME coach Jake Suter said despite their team having to adjust to some new roles after Carter Sneller was injured on Friday, he was pleased with how his team competed for the majority of the game.

“We were down our leading scorer and probably our best defender in Carter Sneller; we found out on Friday that he broke his left wrist, so a couple of guys have to step up into new roles on the team and it’s going to take a little bit of time to fill that void,” Suter said. “But I really liked what our guys did for stretches of the game. WWG went on a really nice run in the second half and that’s really what kind of did us in.”

WWG (9-3) will face MCC today at 7:15 p.m. while YME will face Lakeview today at 7:15 p.m.

WWG 71, YME 46

YME 22 24 – 46

WWG 37 34 – 71

SCORING: WWG (Mischke 18; Ross 16; Quade 14; Freeburg 12; Christians 5; Kleven, Lien, Pilaczynski 2); YME (Knapper 18; Ishmon 13; Anderson 10; Chase 3; Johnson 2).

REBOUNDS: WWG 35 (Mischke 9); YME (NR).

ASSISTS: WWG 16 (Quade 4); YME (NR).

STEALS: WWG 10 (Quade 4); YME (NR).

BLOCKS: WWG 2; YME (NR).

Girls Basketball

YME 76, WWG 43

Both the Westbrook-Walnut Grove and Yellow Medicine East girls basketball teams entered their game Saturday with a couple of streaks. The Sting were hoping to keep theirs going and win their fifth straight game. The Chargers, meanwhile, were hoping to break theirs, as WWG came in with a four-game losing skid.

Thanks to a huge start, it was YME who kept their streak going in the right direction, as the Sting cruised to a 76-43 victory over the Chargers at the R/A Facility on the campus of Southwest Minnesota State University.

YME coach Ryan Schultz was proud of the way his team came together and executed throughout the game and felt the strong start fueled their performance.

“We’ve talked for most of the year about getting out to a good start because we haven’t in past games, so that was kind of the focus and they came through and executed,” Schultz said. “They were having fun out there playing and you could tell they were really working together and I think that helped us keep going.”

Right off the opening tip, the Sting looked to seize control of the pace, jumping out to an early 5-0 lead. Thanks to some strong defensive play, that lead for YME quickly was pushed to double digits, ending in a 17-0 start for the Sting.

Meanwhile, WWG – who was held without a field goal for the first five minutes – was able to get on the board from beyond the arc with a 3-pointer from Grace Woelber, but YME answered right back with a 3-pointer from Lauren McCosh to push its lead back to 30-10 with 6:20 left.

The two teams would then trade points the rest of the first half as YME held a 43-18 advantage at the break.

After controlling the tempo of the game in the first half, the Sting looked to keep their feet on the gas pedal while WWG was in search of a spark on the offensive end. Both teams would trade points to begin the second half, but YME continued to maintain at least a 20-point lead at 61-31 with 11:14 left.

The Chargers wouldn’t go down without a fight, however, and found its spark on the defensive end. With WWG able to put a string of stops together, the Chargers raced down the floor and capitalized on the offensive end, cutting the deficit to within 15.

Unfortunately for WWG, that would be the closest it would get, as YME ran down the clock the rest of the way on its way to the 76-43 victory.

WWG coach Adam Kletscher said they were able to get into a small groove in the second half, but they need to play at a consistent level in both halves to get back into the win column.

“We knew coming in that YME is a pretty solid team and told the girls to come out and work hard and try to push the ball a little bit. We didn’t do a very good job of that in the first half; in the second half we tried to push the ball a little more and it helped us get into a flow a little bit better,” Kletscher said. “We had good little spurts where things worked for us and then came down the next time and things didn’t flow as well, so we need to kind of get that figured out. There’s still a lot of season left, so we have to be able to limit those poor opportunities when things don’t flow for us and build on those times when we get things clicking.”

Grace Woelber led the way for the Chargers with 16 points while Alli VandeKieft added six and Brittany Erickson had five. Camryn Bunting led in rebounds with 10 while Woelber and Erickson led in assists with two each.

Madison Hinz led the way for the Sting with 17 points while Hannah Gullickson added 12 and Sam Anderson had 11 and Mackenzie Dyrdahl had 10. Anderson and Gullickson led in rebounds with seven each while Hinz led in assists with seven.

YME (7-3) will face Dawson-Boyd on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m. while WWG (3-8) will face Edgerton on Tuesday at 7:15 p.m.

YME 76, WWG 43

YME 43 33 – 76

WWG 18 25 – 43

SCORING: WWG (Woelber 5-12, 4-5 16; VandeKieft 3-6, 0-0 6; Erickson 2-6, 0-1 5; Berglund 0-0, 4-6 4; Steen 2-5, 0-0 4; Jorgenson 1-3, 0-0 3; Byers 1-5, 0-2 2; Bunting 1-7, 0-0 2; DeSmith 0-0, 1-4 1); YME (Hinz 5-15, 3-4 17; Gullickson 6-12, 0-0 12; Anderson 4-10, 2-3, 11; Dyrdahl 5-9, 0-0 10; McCosh 2-7, 4-6 9; Mortenson 4-9, 0-0 8; Dahlager 3-5, 0-0 6; Johnson 1-2, 1-2 3).

REBOUNDS: WWG 20 (Bunting 10; Byers 3; Woelber, Steen 2; VandeKieft, Jorgenson, Erickson 1); YME 41 (Anderson, Gullickson 7; Mortenson 6; McCosh 5; Hinz 4; Dyrdahl, Dahlager, Johnson 3).

ASSISTS: WWG 7 (Erickson, Woelber 2; Jorgenson, VandeKieft, Berglund 1); YME 24 (Hinz 7; Dahlager 6; Flores 4).

STEALS: WWG 5 (Berglund, Byers, Bunting, Erickson, Woelber 1); YME 9 (Hinz 3; Dahlager 2).

BLOCKS: WWG none; YME 5 (Gullickson 3; Flores, Mortenson 1).