By Brenda Erdahl
Sports Editor
The Maple Lake girls basketball team recorded its first win of the season, Tuesday, Dec. 19 at Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted before Falling 38-31 to Long Prairie-Grey Eagle.
The Irish defeated the Lakers last season and were looking to repeat that success, Tuesday. Like most teams the Irish face, the Lakers held a significant height advantage over the Maple Lake squad, but that didn’t hinder them. The Irish trailed early (9-2), but the Lakers couldn’t handle Maple Lake’s full court pressure defense. The Irish went on a run and never looked back. By the break, Maple Lake held a 19-16 lead.
That full court pressure defense and their best shooting percentage of the season led the Irish to a 46-33 win. Maple Lake forced 25 turnovers and outscored the Lakers 26-10 in the paint. Tessa Pribyl shot double digits for the Irish with 16 points and 10 rebounds. Avery Lee scored a career high 15 points and continues to lead in minutes played.
“The girls have been playing extremely hard, so it is great to reap the benefits of it. A solid night defending both in the post and full court were certainly keys,” Head Coach Adam Ronnenberg said.
On Thursday, Dec. 21, the Irish traveled to LP-GE to meet Section 5A opponent, the Thunder. Once again, the Irish defeated the Thunder last season and were hoping for a repeat, but this time it wasn’t in the cards despite an 18-8 lead in the first half.
From that high point, the Irish struggled to find offensive success against a stingy matchup zone by LP-GE. Maple Lake was ahead 19-17 at the half, but it went downhill from there. Foul trouble and ball control hindered Maple Lake’s success.
Pribyl paced the Irish with 11 points and eight rebounds and Grace Ronnenberg and Molly Wurm worked hard on the glass gathering 10 rebounds and six rebounds respectively.
“This was a solid matchup for us and one we really wanted to get. We struggled to find an answer against their matchup zone and ultimately couldn’t find ways to score. This group doesn’t quit and played hard to the buzzer. I am grateful for that,” Ronnenberg said.
Up next
The Irish play again on Tuesday, Jan. 2 when they host Royalton at 7 p.m. On Friday, Jan. 5, the Irish host Kimball at 7 p.m. and on Saturday, Jan. 6 they go to PACT Charter School for a 2 p.m. contest.