Turnovers tell the tale in Minneota loss to Minnewaska
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MARSHALL -- Travels and other turnovers were the story of the game when the Minneota girls basketball team took on Class 2A No. 9 Minnewaska Area as part of the Holiday Classic at Southwest Minnesota State University on Friday night. The Lakers capitalized on Viking errors early and often, cruising to a 70-41 win.
"Their length caused problems, their quickness caused problems, their strength, I mean, they were just stronger," Minneota head coach Alan Panka said of Minnewaska's ability to force turnovers. "They were more aggressive and we didn't step up to match that intensity from the get-go. That was part of the problem, and we just made poor choices and things snowballed."
Minneota finished the game with 40 turnovers to Minnewaska's 10. Of the Vikings' 40 turnovers, 29 came on steals. The Lakers converted those miscues into a 28-2 advantage in points off turnovers.
Minnewaska jumped on a trio of Minneota turnovers in the game's first two minutes to capture an early 9-2 lead. A Hadli Krog layup and a Jaylyn Coequyt free throw cut the deficit to two possessions, but the Lakers scored after grabbing four offensive rebounds in a single possession to prompt a Viking timeout, trailing 13-7.
While the turnovers killed Minneota, the Vikings were more efficient than the Lakers when they got their shot off. Minneota shot 40% from the field, 25% from 3 and 50% from the free-throw line, while Minnewaska shot 36-15-43 splits. Yet, Minnewaska attempted 89 shots to Minneota's 43.
Beyond the turnovers, part of the difference in the field goal attempts was rebounding. While Minnewaska grabbed 35 total rebounds fcompared to 34 for for Minneota, they held a sizeable 20-8 advantage in offensive rebounds.
"It definitely was both [effort and size]," Panka said when asked about the Lakers' advantage on the offensive glass. "[Minnewaska's] length causes problems and I think we started feeling sorry for ourselgves a little bit on a couple of those possessions. We didn't put in the effort required, and that's just non-negotiable."
Coequyt led Minneota with nine rebounds while Hulzebos grabbed another six. Neither had an offensive rebound in the game.
Sarah Gruenes drilled a 3-pointer to bring Minneota within 5 points, 17-12, but the Vikings were held scoreless for the next six minutes as the Lakers pulled away. Minnewaska unleashed a 13-0 run to extend its lead to 30-14 before Coequyt ended the drought by hitting a layup with six minutes to play in the half.
Kiersyn Hulzebos led the Viking scorers with 9 points while Coequyt and Gruenes added another 7 each. The Lakers didn't have any players finish with 15 or more points but their depth gave them six players with at least 8 points.
The Lakers' cushion surpassed 20 points when Jayda Kolstoe hit a layup through contact in transition, making the score 38-17 with four minutes to play in the first half. The Vikings got back within 20 points after getting into the bonus in the half's waning minutes, but a series of Minneota turnovers allowed the Lakers to reextend their lead to 48-23 heading into halftime.
Throughout the second half, Minnewaska edged on the verge of the running clock threshold of 35 points, but Minneota kept the Lakers just shy of it. Minnewaska led by as many as 32 points in the final nine minutes.
Coequyt blocked three shots for Minneota while Nevaeh Hennen accounted for two of the team's four steals.
Minneota falls to 5-3 with the loss, having now lost three of its last four games since starting the season on a four-game win streak. The Vikings will aim to right the ship when they take on St. Clair (3-4) on the second day of the Holiday Classic tonight at 5:30 p.m. While the game will be the backend of a back-to-back for Minneota, the Cyclones have had a week to recover since they last played on Dec. 21.
"Game like this, by the time they get to the bus it'll be over with," Panka said of his team mentally moving on frmom the loss. "That's kind of the way it goes most of the time, the biggest thing is we have to take care of the things that we can control and not make those mistakes. Yeah, [Minnewaska's] going to force you into enough of them just being good, but... you can't mentally have the, 'Oh, we didn't hustle back after a turnover,' or 'We didn't box out.' You can't have the mental [errors] on top of the physical ones."