Loyal girls fall short versus Owen-Withee

By Valorie Brecht In Loyal’s recent matchup against Owen-Withee (O-W), both teams were strong on defense, as evidenced by the fact there were only 60 points scored between the two teams, the lowest total of all the games Loyal has played this season. However, O-W was a little stronger on offense. The home game last Thursday began with neither team scoring for the first almost two minutes. Finally, Loyal’s Olivia Nikolai opened things up by making a jumper. Shortly after that, she also sunk a three from near the top of the arc. Autumn Zvolena also got a quick turnaround basket in the paint to give Loyal seven points. However, they were already 10 minutes into the half at that point and O-W had eight points. It quickly became clear that it would be a battle for every basket. O-W’s defensive pressure began to rattle the Hounds, making it hard for them to get the ball inside. After a Loyal timeout at 7:30 left in the half, coach Mike Rueth urged the Greyhounds to make short passes for better ball movement.

“Owen-Withee is second in the conference right now, so we knew they’d be a tough team,” said Rueth afterward. “We didn’t handle their press very well.”

Both teams put up a few more points before the buzzer sounded. At halftime the score was O-W 13 Loyal 11, still anybody’s game.

The second half opened with a scoring drought, broken by Autumn Zvolena one minute and 20 seconds in when she hit a three. O-W responded though with a steal that turned into a layup, and ended up going on a nine-point run to go ahead 22-16. Not to be deterred, the Greyhounds brought it all the way back to within one point, 26-25, with just under six minutes left to play. As the clock ticked down, the Hounds were forced to foul the Blackhawks several times in an effort to get the ball back, but weren’t able to get anything going on offense.

“Unfortunately, they (the Blackhawks) made their last eight free throws, so that made the score more lopsided than it would have been. So the game was closer than what the final score showed,” said Rueth.

That score was 35-25, with O-W claiming the win. In all, O-W shot 60% from the free throw line, making 12 of 20 baskets, but putting them in when they needed it the most. Loyal only went to the line once and made one of two.

The Greyhounds’ scoring was more subdued than some of their other games, with only four contributors and only one player in double digits. Zvolena scored 5 points, including three 3-pointers. Other point totals were Nikolai 5, Mallory Jakobi 4, and Annika Schley 1.

Rueth was aware of the main factor that led to his team taking a loss.

“On offense, we didn’t feed our post enough. We need to get some balls dropped in to the post,” he said.

Still, he could see improvements in different areas as the season nears its halfway mark.

“Overall, defensively we played pretty well. We held them to 35 points. We are also starting to play well as a team. Rebounding is another strength of ours,” he said.

Loyal racked up 16 rebounds, including six offensive rebounds, compared to O-W’s 13.

“Our goal is to get a little better week to week. Defense is our big strength, so we want to stay on top of that. Offense we need to work on. We have a three-game week next week, so that will be a little brutal. But I do think we have some games we can win.”

The girls were scheduled to play Edgar on Monday, Greenwood on Tuesday and will face Colby at home this Friday.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTOS