Cottage Grove’s high-pressure defense led to a 38-23 win over the Husky girls basketball team on the road Dec. 7.
The Huskies matched up all right with Cottage Grove the first quarter, trailing 8-5 at the end.
“Then the second quarter, they really turned on the pressure” with a press and half-court trap that forced a number of turnovers Cottage Grove easily converted, Coach Jason Gorham said. Cottage Grove was able to build a 32-12 lead by halftime.
In the second half, the Huskies played a good game, Coach Gorham said, but they were too far down to climb out of the hole.
“Overall, defensively, we played well,” Coach Gorham said. Cottage Grove shot less than 30 percent but had more opportunities to shoot. The Huskies shot 26 percent.
Hannah Swanson led the Huskies with nine points. Dani Thireault added seven points; Tabitha Trahan, four; Sara Brocard, four; Nicki Aerni, two; Chelsea Hackworth, two; and Ashlee Flanagan, one.
K. Esser led Cottage Grove scoring with 14 points. T. Brandt added eight.
Against Cottage Grove and again Friday night at Central, the Huskies struggled with giving up offensive boards, an area the team is stressing in practice this week.
At Central, the two teams were tied 11-11 at the end of the first quarter. They trailed 29-24 at halftime then 26-21 after the third. Central won the game 38-25.
“They weren’t shooting the ball very well,” Coach Gorham said. Central shot just 21 percent from the field, lower than the Huskies; but Central got 30 more shots off.
“It was a fairly slow game,” Coach Gorham said. “We just struggled again to get points on the board.”
Central played in a zone defense, and the Huskies struggled moving against it and scoring.
Swanson led Husky scoring with nine points. Flanagan added seven; Aerni, four; Trahan, three; and Hackworth, two.
K. Lambert led Central with 15 points. S. Cole added seven.
The freshman team defeated Cottage Grove and lost to Central.
The junior varsity lost to Cottage Grove 37-13 and Central 52-20.