WHS girls win two in DC play
Whitehall's Abby Semb drove to the basket during their game against Gilmanton last week Tuesday.
The Whitehall girls basketball team more than doubled its win total on the season with two wins last week. The Norse had lost 10 games in a row before they defeated Gilmanton 62-56 last week Tuesday. Their winning ways continued on Friday with a 55-34 win at Alma/Pepin.
The wins put the Norse at 3-10 on the season and 2-7 in Dairyland Conference play. The three wins Whitehall has are as many as they've had the last three seasons combined. Whitehall was in action again this week Monday when they played at Alma Center Lincoln before a rematch with A/P, this time at home, on Tuesday. On Thursday the Norse head to Melrose-Mindoro before playing at Independence on Saturday. This coming Tuesday, Whitehall will host Augusta before heading to Cochrane-Fountain City next week Friday.
Whitehall 62 GHS 56 - An aggressive offensive attack and accuracy from the free-throw line helped the Norse snap a 10-game skid. Whitehall attempted 37 free throws in the game, including 23 in the second half. Gilmanton got off to a fast start, scoring seven of the first eight points in the game before Whitehall surged back to tie the game at nine. The teams went back and forth for the rest of the half, but the Norse took a 25-24 lead into halftime. Whitehall was aggressive with 23 field goal attempts in the paint in the game, not counting the shots that drew fouls. Lydia Evans was able to keep Gilmanton in the game with three second half three pointers as part of her 16 points, but Whitehall was able to connect on free throws to put the game out of reach. Whitehall shot roughly 33 percent from the field, but were accurate at the line, making 27 of their 37 attempts. Ariel Koxlien scored a game-high 17 points as she shot 13-for-14 from the free-throw line. Another post player, Sam Huff, scored 13 with Olivia Youngbauer scoring eight, Norah Youngbauer and Mykensie Beighley both had six, Ellie Matejka scored five, Abby Semb finished with four and Nylah Lisowski had three.
Whitehall (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) - N. Youngbauer 2/6-0/0-0-3-6 Koxlien 2/6-13/14-6-3-17 O. Youngbauer 1/6-6/11-3-2-8 Huff 5/7-3/6-4-2-13 Beighley 1/7-4/4-3-0-6 Matejka 2/5-0/0-0-2-5 Lisowski 1/3-1/2-3-3-3 Semb 2/8-0/0-5-2-4 Clatt 0/1-0/0-1-0-0 Whitehall 55 A/P 34 The Norse were able to attack the Eagles inside and outside as they took a big lead early in the game. Ellie Matejka knocked in three shots from beyond the three-point line in the first half and Olivia Youngbauer added another while post players Ariel Koxlien and Sam Huff were able to attack the basket for a combined 13 points as Whitehall took a 33-16 lead into halftime. Youngbauer made another three pointer in the second half as a balanced Whitehall attack kept them ahead of the Eagles. Matejka led Whitehall with 11 points while Huff and Koxlien both scored 10, Youngbauer scored eight Mykensie Beighley and Abby Semb finished with six and Nylah Lisowski scored two. Whitehall's defense held the Eagles to 33 percent shooting and forced 31 turnovers. The Norse shot 37.3 percent from the field.
Whitehall (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) - Koxlien 4/14-2/5-11-1-10 O. Youngbauer 3/9-0/0-5-1-8 Huff 4/5-2/4-1-3-10 Beighley 3/7-0/0-2-2-6 Matejka 4/9-0/0-1-4-11 Lisowski 2/6-0/0-0-1-4 Semb 2/8-2/2-4-2-6 Clatt 0/1-0/0-0-1-0
