Photo by Jake McNeill: Westbrook-Walnut Grove forward Leah Carter (21) shoots a floater during a prep girls basketball game at Southwest Minnesota State University in Marshall on Tuesday.

MARSHALL — Leah Carter’s post offense and Hadley Jenniges’ shooting and passing helped the Westbrook-Walnut Grove girls basketball team stave off a late comeback bid from Canby at the Marshall Holiday Tournament on Tuesday. The Chargers built up a 16-point lead in the first half before the Lancers cut the deficit down to one possession, but WWG held on for the 49-43 win.

Carter finished the day with a game-high 23 points while Jenniges added another 15. WWG head coach Dan Klumper attributed the Chargers’ hot start to their consistent shooting early on.

“We really focused on getting the ball into the paint, but we were also able to make a few 3-pointers there early on in the game to kind of give us some shooting confidence and get that gap early on,” Klumper said.​

Despite trailing by 14 points at the half, the Lancers made a valiant comeback bid to start the second. Carter put WWG on the board first with a layup, but a Brynn Kockelman 3-pointer and a Jordan Jostock transition layup after a Charger turnover brought the Lancers back within single digits.

“[We] just kept giving continuous effort and playing hard regardless,” Canby head coach Jeff Thovson said of his team’s comeback. “Basketball is a game where sometimes the ball goes in the hoop, sometimes it doesn’t, and you just have to keep playing defense, keep working hard, and that’s what they did.”

Kockelman proceeded to answer another Carter layup with a 3, and then answered a WWG free throw with a layup to make it a 5-point game.

Another 3 from her brought it down to one possession, 31-29 with 13 minutes to play, but the Lancers couldn’t capitalize on a series of WWG turnovers and Natasha Wahl eventually hit a pair of layups to give the Chargers some cushion again.

Karli Weber knocked down a midrange jumper to keep it a one-score game, but the Lancers started to pull away from there. Carter rumbled to the cup for a layup and, a few minutes later, knocked down a 3 from the wing to give WWG a 7-point edge.

“They just keep their poise,” Klumper said of his team. “They’ve played a lot of varsity games, whether it’s volleyball or basketball… so they’re not new to the experience. They just rely on that experience and that ability they have to keep their poise, which was nice to see because the last game we played, we had a big lead and ended up losing the game. So this one, we had a big lead, they came back a little bit, and we were able to keep our poise enough to finish the game off.”

WWG last played on Friday when they went on the road to take on a quality Heron Lake-Okabena/Fulda team. The Chargers fell 54-47 but didn’t let their prior result affect their play on Tuesday.

The Chargers’ lead hovered between two and three possessions until Emily Nelson knocked down a layup and Kockelman tipped a pass on the press to Weber, who hit another layup to make it a 3-point game, 42-39. Still, WWG pulled away again and held on to win by 5.

Carlie Ross got the Chargers off to a hot start with a 3-pointer and Jenniges got fouled on a 3-point attempt shortly thereafter, making two of her three attempts from the free-throw line.

Jenniges continued to get in a rhythm, knocking down a shot while fading along the baseline, following up with a 3-pointer and getting a putback layup to bring the Chargers’ lead to 12-1.

WWG led by as many as 16 points in the first half. They were able to break the Lancers’ press early in the first half, forcing Canby back into a zone defense, but Canby brought it back later in the half with increased success and continued to get into a defensive rhythm in the second half with tips and turnovers in the fullcourt.

Canby’s defensive success came from improved patience in the press, Thovson said, adding that he felt the girls did a better job of waiting for WWG to put itself in spots where Canby could trap or pressure effectively rather than forcing the pressure.

When the Chargers were able to break the press early, they focused on trying to get the ball through the middle of the court past the logo in order to avoid the trapping zones, Klumper said.

WWG improves to 5-4 with the win and will look to remain above .500 when it goes on the road to take on Russell-Tyler-Ruthton (6-4) on Monday at 7:30 p.m.

Canby falls to 2-6 on the season and aims to end its three-game slide when it hosts Montevideo (1-7) on Saturday at 1:30 p.m.