Norse top Pirates in OT, falter against Eagles

The Whitehall girls basketball team won a thriller, but couldn’t overcome a big run in another game last week.

The Norse came through with clutch baskets in regulation and both overtime periods to top Cochrane-Fountain City, 67-61, on the road last week Tuesday. On Friday, the team surrendered a 22-0 run in the first half to Alma/Pepin in Pepin and never recovered, falling 48-39.

Whitehall took a 3-4 record (3-2 in Dairyland Conference play) into this week before Tuesday’s home game against Alma Center Lincoln. The team is slated to play at Osseo-Fairchild on Friday. 

Whitehall 67 C-FC 61

It took two extra periods, but the Norse came out ahead for the road win.

Whitehall trailed by five at halftime, but took the lead on a long jumper by Kyla Lambeck with 10 minutes left in the game. A Lambeck free throw put Whitehall ahead 47-45 with 36 seconds left in regulation, but the Pirates tied the game with two free throws 19 seconds later. 

The game remained tied at 47 at the end of regulation.

C-FC took a three-point lead with less than a minute left in the first overtime. They had the ball after a Whitehall miss, but a loose ball foul was followed by a technical foul and Lambeck connected on three of four free throws to tie the game with 35 seconds remaining. Both teams missed shots before the buzzer, sending the game to a second overtime period.

Paige Lisowski hit a three early in the second overtime then Trinity Aasen banked in a jumper to make the score 61-56. A three-pointer brought C-FC back within two, but Lisowski made two free throws before Aasen got a steal and layup to essentially clinch the win with 15 seconds left. 

Lisowski scored a career-high 25 points, while Lambeck added 15 and Aasen finished with 11. Aryana Ausderau scored nine and pulled in 16 rebounds. 

Whitehall (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Lisowski 7/11-7/9-4-2-25 Sluga 0/5-0/3-4-1-0 Herman 1/4-0/0-2-1-3 Lambeck 4/10-5/8-6-1-15 Ausderau 3/16-3/4-16-5-9 Aasen 5/20-1/1-8-5-11 Klomsten 2/2-0/0-1-0-4 Foss 0/0-0/0-1-1-0 Hensley 0/1-1/2-1-1-1

A/P 48 Whitehall 39

A 22-0 run in the first half was too much for the Norse to overcome.

Nearly half of A/P’s points came during the nine-minute stretch in which a close game became lopsided. The Norse trailed 10-8 before the Eagles scored 22 consecutive to take a 24-point lead with less than five minutes remaining in the first half.

The Eagles took a 40-15 advantage into halftime. 

A/P didn’t score in the final eight minutes of the game, but it didn’t need to. The team held a 48-29 lead before Whitehall finished with a 10-0 run to make the final margin closer.

Whitehall struggled offensively, shooting about 26 percent from the field and making four-of-12 free-throw attempts.

Lisowski had a team-high 13 points and Aasen finished with 10.

Whitehall (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Lisowski 5/17-3/5-9-4-13 Sluga 0/0-0/0-4-2-0 Herman 2/2-0/0-1-0-5 Lambeck 2/14-1/2-1-1-6 Ausderau 1/6-0/0-3-2-2 Aasen 5/20-0/5-12-3-10 Klomsten 1/1-0/0-1-3-3 Foss 0/2-0/0-0-2-0 

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