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.

WESTBROOK — Despite losing some key pieces from last year’s strong season, the Westbrook-Walnut Grove girls basketball team found a way to continue to win games. Led by the continued growth of Leah Carter, the Chargers persisted and remained one of the stronger teams in the Red Rock Conference.

The Chargers finished the season with a 16-12 record, earning the No. 5 seed in the Section 3A South tournament. The Chargers opened the postseason with some revenge, taking down a Russell-Tyler-Ruthton squad that they lost to by 4 or fewer points twice in the regular season by a score of 52-40 in the subsection quarterfinals, but fell to top-seeded Hills-Beaver Creek in the semifinals for the second year in a row.

“We went into that Super Saturday game feeling confident because both games [against RTR] we were right there, just didn’t make the plays that we needed to,” WWG head coach Dan Klumper said, adding that RTR is a particularly strong team in terms of its defense and rebounding. “We felt like we had a good plan as far as what we were going to do on defense… and offensively we just felt like we really had to take care of the basketball and get it into the post to Leah and let her go to work down there in the low block. The girls made shots, we took care of the basketball and played some really good defense.”

Coming off last season’s 19-8 campaign, the Chargers graduated some key pieces. Riley Parker averaged 15.1 points per game as the team’s second-leading scorer and Natalie Wahl was third with 5.1, but the Chargers did bring back Carter to keep one of their primary offensive options.

“Every year, we go into the season with the same expectation: just to compete at a high level, play really good defense and take care of the basketball, night-in and night-out,” Klumper said. “We don’t really talk a lot about what we expect for wins. We don’t go into the season expecting conference or section championships. We just go in expecting a high level of effort. With those two girls graduating last year, we came into the season and I expected the girls who now were getting an opportunity to step up.”

WWG came into this season with a more well-rounded approach to scoring. The Chargers had two players averaging at least 6 points per game last year, but had five this season. Notably, Hadley Jenniges’ points per game jumped from 3.6 to 8.4, Carlie Ross’ from 4.2 to 8.1 and Kendall Jenniges from 1.5 to 6.7.

Carter was an Independent All-Area first team selection as a junior and continued stepping up in her senior season. Her 19.3 points per game and 13.3 rebounds per game in her senior season were both career-highs, as were her 2.3 steals and 0.9 blocks.

As a sophomore, Carter was mainly on the court to rebound, defend the rim and kick the ball out to shooters, Klumper said, noting that she developed her scoring game significantly ahead of her junior season last year and continued to improve heading into her senior season.

“She came back with even more improvement and growth as far as ball-handling, she continued to improve her shooting from the 3-point line, and her post game just continued to evolve with more post moves,” Klumper said, noting that she set the program rebounding record and became the first Charger to log 1,000 career points and 1,000 career rebounds. “She’s definitely left her mark on the program and left a legacy that’s basically unmatched, because nobody’s ever done the 1,000-point, 1,000-board club before. I’m super proud of her, we’re going to miss her a lot.”

Ross and Ambrosa Yang were the team’s other two seniors, entering the year on different journeys with the team. Ross had been on the team for years, but the team’s consistently strong guard depth with upperclassmen limited her playing time early in her playing career. Still, Ross remained dedicated to the team even when her minutes were low.

“She didn’t complain, she didn’t pout, she didn’t start drama. She just kept coming to practice, summer or winter, and kept trying hard. When her opportunity came in her junior year, she stepped into a starting role and played a lot of good basketball in her junior and senior years,” Klumper said. “I was just proud of her for the way she kept practicing and kept working at it.”

Yang was a newcomer to the program for her senior year. Previously a key part of the volleyball and track teams, a torn ACL in the spring disrupted her ability to compete in her primary sports. Still, her competitive nature led her to try something new in the fall season.

“She wanted to come out and be part of a team, and she wanted to play more sports before her high school career ended,” Klumper said. “She joined for a year and she was great to have. She’s a great kid, practiced hard, so it was a bit of a unique situation.”