GHV girls win one, drop one in overtime

The GHV girls moved their record to 5-14 overall last week.  They dropped three games, including one in overtime, however one bright spot was a win over Nashua Plainfield.

Bishop Garrigan 65, GHV 45

Bishop Garrigan used a steady performance to top the GHV girls by 20-points Tuesday, Jan. 26.

Garrigan jumped out to an early 17-7 lead and doubled up their lead, 32-16, by the halftime break.  The Cards made some key adjustments at the break which helped their offense, but they could not cut into the Golden Bears’ lead and fell, 65-45.

“I thought we actually played pretty well for the second game in a row, but again we didn’t get enough shot attempts to give ourselves a chance to win. Although we only had 19 turnovers, with a slower paced game that was too many,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.

Hannah Lau and Jillian Heitland provided almost all of the scoring, putting in 21 and 20 points respectively.  Taryn Carolus and Maddie Williams had two points apiece.

Lau was also the leader on the boards, grabbing 17 rebounds.

Turnovers were costly for the Cards.  The Golden Bears scored 21 points off of GHV miscues.

Lake Mills 82, GHV 23

The Cardinals got off to a good start, had 9-7 in the first quarter, but it was all downhill after that.  Lake Mills soared, 82-23 in a game played Friday, Jan. 29.

“We were doing a good job breaking their full court pressure by being patient and seeing the floor very well. But after committing a turnover or two and allowing them easy baskets we lost our composure and were outscored 75 - 14 the rest of the game.  It was due in large part to making numerous poor decisions against their full court pressure,” said Coach Matt Erpelding.  “Lake Mills did shoot the ball very well from the floor, but when you give a team confidence by giving them easy baskets in transition due to turnovers it is easy to shoot the ball with a lot of confidence.”

Hannah Lau accounted for most of the Cardinal scoring.  She put in 11 points and had 11 rebounds.  Maddie Williams added five points and Jillian Heiland finished with four.  Jade Hanson and Taryn Carolus had two and one point respectively.

“If we would have played all 32 minutes like we did the first five-minutes of the game it would have been a different outcome,” added Erpelding.  “We simply lack the mental toughness to play through adversity.”

GHV 54, Nashua-Plainfield 44

It was almost deja vu all over again for the Cards, as they got off to a good start against Nashua-Plainfield on Saturday, then stumbled in the second quarter.  But this time they returned to form in the second half and won, 54-44.

“Once again we lost our mental focus and tried to break pressure by dribbling the basketball rather than passing the ball, which resulted in 13 second quarter turnovers allowing them easy transition baskets,” explained Coach Erpelding.  After leading 16-9 after one quarter, the Cardinals were outscored 18-6 in the second and trailed 27-22 at the half.

“We did a much better job passing the ball to break pressure in the second half resulting in much fewer turnovers which allowed us to score in the half court,” added the coach.  “Also, without turning the basketball over we were able to set our half-court defense which allowed us to hold them to 17 second half points.

Free throws late in the game also helped the Cardinals to notch the win.

Hannah Lau and Jillian Heitland were both in double figures, scoring 16 and 13 points respectively.  Heitland made five-of-six free throw attempts.

Maddie Williams and Jade Hanson scored six points apiece, followed by Taryn Carolus with five and Mara Anderson and Miranda jackson with three apiece.  Mikaya Shropshire added two points.

In addition to being the scoring leader, Lau also pulled down a team-high 19 rebounds.

Algona 41, GHV 35 (OT)

The Cardinals dropped a hard-fought heartbreaker Friday night, Feb. 6, at Algona.  GHV fell to Algona (10-9) in overtime, 41-35.

“We played our best game of the year in terms of playing well from start to finish,” said Coach Erpelding.  “It would have been nice if we could have knocked down a few more free throws, but we still battled to the end.”

The first half was close, with Algona picking up a four point lead, 24-20.

The game came down to the wire.  Maddie Williams hit a three to knot the game, 32-32, with 3:12 remaining in the game.  Mara Anderson sunk a two pointer to take the lead, 34-32, with 1:26 remaining.  The Bulldogs answered that with a two-point shot of their own to tie once again.  Neither team could manage a basket in the final minute, sending the game into OT.

The difference was in the free throws during overtime play.  The Cardinals were 1/4 from the line and Algona was 5/2 and pulled off the 41-35 victory.

“The lack of execution ended up costing us the game,” said Erpelding.

Jillian Heitland led the team with 12-points, followed by Hannah Lau with eight.  Williams chipped in five and Anderson and Mikaya Shropshire each contributed four points.

Lau led the team in rebounds with 12.  Anderson pulled down four.

The Cardinals will have a chance for redemption when they face the Bulldogs again in the first round of Class 3A Region 1.  The game will be played in Algona at 7 p.m.  The winner of the game will face Spirit Lake or Estherville Lincoln-Central on Wednesday, Feb. 17, at 7 p.m. in Spirit Lake.