The JWP girls’ basketball team is looking to enter the Section 2AA playoffs with momentum on their side. A seven-game winning streak, including a 74-40 win over Sibley East in Janesville on Tuesday, February 17, will certainly help. However, there are a few kinks they hope to fix in their game before then.
JWP started off slowly against Sibley East. While the chances were there, the Lady Dawgs couldn’t capitalize at first. The Wolverines couldn’t capitalize on their chances either. At the midway point, neither team had scored more than 20 points. Senior Katie Olson seemed especially frustrated as her shots didn’t fall early.
Fellow senior Mikayla Wheelock got the party started with a three-pointer. Freshman Ashlynn Wolff was then fouled on. Although she missed her initial free throws, she received a second chance off a rebound attempt, drawing another foul by the Wolverines; she didn’t miss those two free throws.
From there, scoring came from all sources. Although Sibley East narrowed JWP’s lead down to a three-pointer, the girls played great defensively. Their only weakness seemed to be the occasional pass from the wing into the paint, but the Wolverines couldn’t capitalize. The Lady Dawgs found the basket more near the end, going on a massive run. But the Wolverines had a couple of shots, too, making it a 42-25 halftime.
It didn’t take JWP long to find the basket in the second half. They ended up outscoring Sibley East 32-15 in the latter 18 minutes of the game. One of the Wolverines players tripped senior Nevaeh Weimert, drawing a technical foul. Another Wolverine fouled out near the end. Weimert had a five-point run, with 7th-grader Jacie Mulder on a six-point run.
Although Head Coach Brandon Goebel called the game “another solid showing” for the girls, he noted the slow start and less-than-stellar communication on defense. “Something that was not great for us last night was our rebounding,” he added. “We have to rebound better in the playoffs if we want to be successful.”
Weimert led the team in scoring in this one with a 22-point night. Mulder, Olson, and Wolff had a dozen points each. Olson led in steals with eight on the night. Wheelock’s opening three was her only score of the night, but she also contributed a trio of rebounds and four steals. Haylee Appel, a JV player who looked great with her varsity minutes in the Waseca game the night before, put on a seven-point show in the few minutes she had on the court.
The team officially ends the regular season with a 19-7 record. Their performance against the Wolverines put them ahead of Central (Norwood Young America) in the Section 2AA standings. They officially clinched the #2 seed and will host Le Sueur-Henderson to open the section playoffs on Monday, February 23. If they win, they will host the winner of the Tri-City United-Minnesota Valley Lutheran Game on Thursday, February 26.
