Truman boards by Madelia, 62-43
Charlie Sorrells - Sentinel Sports EditorArticle Photos
TRUMAN - Shelby Wiederhoeft's game-high double-double performance paced Truman's balanced offense, while the Bluejays' man-to-man defense created a plus-17 turnover ratio against rival Madelia on Thursday night.
Wiederhoeft produced 15 points and 14 rebounds, Bailey Wendt scored 13, Jordan Feis netted 11 points, while Becca Hintz and Chelsey Lieffring each contributed nine points to spearhead the Bluejays' 62-43 Valley Conference basketball victory over the Blackhawks in Truman.
"Everybody's been contributing to our wins in one way or another," said Truman head coach Pete Goeringer, whose lineup improved to 4-0 overall and 3-0 in league action. "We've had good balanced scoring each game out so far."
Ironically, the Bluejays clung to a narrow 20-17 halftime lead before storming out of the gates to vastly improve upon all of their team statistics during the final 18 minutes of regulation.
Truman scorched the nets on 15-for-24 field-goal shooting for 62.5 percent in the second half, outrebounded Madelia by a 17-11 margin and committed only three turnovers while forcing a dozen by the Blackhawks.
Wiederhoeft opened the second-half stampede by converting back-to-back low-post baskets off assists from Emily Hartwig and Hintz, respectively, before Hintz's defensive prowess led to three more points. Hintz pocketed one of her game-high six thefts before Wendt flipped the basketball ahead to a breaking Hintz for a traditional 3-point play.
Wendt then distributed another one of her five assists to Feis for a baseline jumper that snapped the nets to cap a 9-0 surge and forced Madelia to call timeout at the 15:07 juncture.
Center Kayla Firchau, who produced a double-double effort of 13 points and 11 rebounds, converted Allie VanHee's inbound assist for a traditional 3-point play to halt the Bluejays' run and trigger the Blackhawks' ensuing 11-2 outburst.
Katie Odegard, who also finished with 13 points, contributed a traditional 3-point play and a layup off VanHee's steal-turned-assist to inch Madelia within three with 12 minutes left in regulation.
Goeringer called for time only to watch as Feis, and Lieffring ignited Truman's answering run from the outside and inside, respectively.
Feis hit back-to-back jumpers off feeds from Wendt and Hintz before Wiederhoeft sank a pair of free throws to resurrect the home team's nine-point edge.
Emilee Kuehl later spotted Lieffring for a low-post leaner, Hartwig drained a 3 before Wendt's offense and Hintz's defense spurred the Bluejays' 17-7 offensive avalanche to cap their 19-point victory.
Hintz added five assists to her nine points and six steals for the home team, while Lieffring pulled down seven rebounds to complement her nine points.
Larissa Young supplied 12 points for the Blackhawks.
Truman (4-0, 3-0) travels to Nicollet on Tuesday night for a rescheduled game.
Martin Luther 44, Granada-Huntley-East Chain 41 - Steph Senne scored 16 points to lead the Knights to a 44-41 Valley Conference win over the Mustangs on Thursday night in Northrop.
Haley Geistfeld added 12 points and seven rebounds for Martin Luther, while Aly Bremer had eight points and nine rebounds.
Steph Stensland led the Mustangs with 18 points, while Alyssa Cegelske scored 11 points, grabbed 11 rebounds and blocked three shots. Ashlynn Cegelske added 10 of the Mustangs 30 team rebounds.
The Knights were 5 of 14 on 3-pointers, 10 of 23 on 2-pointers and 11 of 16 at the foul line. The Mustangs were 16 of 32 from the floor and 3 of 9 at the foul line.
Martin Luther (4-2, 2-1) plays Cannon Valley on Tuesday at the Target Center. GHEC (3-3, 2-2) hits the road to Jackson County Central on Saturday.
GHEC 20-21-41
ML 13-31-44
Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial 62, Martin County West 36 - Karina Schroeder scored 26 points to lead the Knights to a 62-36 Valley Conference win over the Mavericks on Thursday in Sherburn.
Elliott Lenz and Tara Roelofs each scored 11 points for LCWM.
Madison Bloomquist netted 13 points for MCW, while Alyssa Taylor added 10 points.
The Mavericks were 14 of 53 from the floor and 8 of 16 at the free throw line, while the Knights were 9 of 23 at the line.
Martin County West (2-4) plays Le Center tonight.
LCWM 34-28-62
MCW 14-22-36




