HOWARD LAKE – When the Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted girls basketball team took the floor Thursday night, they did so without their leading scorer and leading rebounder all in one. With sophomore Alexa Schumann out with a leg injury, it presented an opportunity for others to step up. They didn’t disappoint.
The Lakers, who fell just short against Maple Lake in their previous matchup, got the revenge they were looking for as they grinded out a 42-38 win on their home court against the visiting Irish.
“That was a good win for us with Alexa being out,” HLWW coach Rick Baumann said. “They just battled.”
It wasn’t easy one bit for the Lakers, and it took all seven players that saw time on the court to bring home the win. While senior Lily DeBoer(13 points and nine rebounds) and sophomore CJ Decker (10 points and two assists) led the way for the Lakers, it was the additional play of Courtney Long, Abby Niesen, Elise Luchsinger, Erin Luchsinger, and Jenna Benson that proved to be enough.
“Abby was huge,” Baumann said. “Abby’s played well for us defensively. It’s nice to see her get on the score sheet for us. I thought Erin stepping in Alexa’s spot was big, too. She wasn’t going to give us the scoring, but she gave us the rebounding and defensive pressure we needed to have. It’s never easy to replace your leading scorer. Elise is coming around. She’s getting back and feeling better. Courtney’s played some big minutes. She doesn’t always get the scoring for us, but she does so many things for us. She does the dirty work. The little things.”
With the Lakers trailing by four at the half, it was the play of Niesen who helped give the Lakers the extra spark they needed. Niesen scored six points in the second half alone, while also grabbing five rebounds and playing tough defense on Maple Lake’s Linsey Rachel.
“Abby did a nice job on Rachel,” Baumann said. “She did a great job of keeping her under control and just doing some things we needed to do.”
A 10-2 run by the Lakers gave them their first lead of the second half, and after that, they never looked back. Switching to a zone defense proved to be the difference for the Lakers as they forced the Irish to beat them outside of the paint.
“It was a super tough game,” DeBoer said. “It’s really nice to be able to rely on younger girls coming in. They’re big players on the team, so it’s really nice. We knew it was going to be a close game either way, but without Alexa, we didn’t really know how it was going to go. We all played strong, though.”
Not only is the win big when it comes to conference play, but it also helps the Lakers when it comes to Section 5AA seeding. The Lakers are 7-9 overall this season, and 2-5 in the Central MN Conference after the win over the Irish. With 10 games remaining on the schedule, the Lakers will be looking to push for a better seed down the stretch, and try to secure that all important home game the first round.
“This is a good win for us to get at home for a conference win and then a section win,” Baumann said. “It’s a big win for us without her.”
That would be awesome,” DeBoer said about possibly getting a home game come playoff time. “We were all talking about in the locker room. We’re super excited for it if we get it. We’re just hoping.”
CENTRAL MN CONFERENCE – GIRLS BASKETBALL
HLWW 42, Maple Lake 38
IRISH: 20;18;-28
LAKERS:16;26;-42
MAPLE LAKE: Linsey Rachel 11, Grace Heying 10, Mackenna Brown 7, Lauren Borell 4, Mollie Scheiber 4, Calli Maki 2.
HLWW: Lily DeBoer 13, CJ Decker 10, Courtney Long 7, Abby Niesen 6, Elise Luchsinger 4, Jenna Benson 2.
Look for the rest of the story, as well as more HJ sports coverage, in the Friday, Jan. 19 edition of the Herald Journal. Click here for subscription information.
INJURY REPORT
Alexa Schuman: A leg injury kept Schumann sidelined for the Lakers in their game against the Maple Lake Irish Thursday night. Head coach Rick Baumann is hoping she will be back soon, and that she will be getting it looked at again tomorrow.
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