LESTER PRAIRIE – The Lester Prairie/Holy Trinity girls basketball team knew the task at hand would be tough with its matchup against the Maple Lake Irish Monday night. The Irish were coming off an impressive upset of Watertown-Mayer, and have won five-straight games coming into the matchup.
After battling it out into the second half, it was the Irish who pulled away late thanks to some hot shooting from deep, and the Bulldogs going cold from the field to earn a 66-47 victory.
“We played 27 or 28 minutes of really good basketball for us,” LP/HT coach Mike Lee said. “We played it against a pretty good team. Our offense just stopped, and it’s been that all year long.”
In their last four games including the loss to the Irish, the Bulldogs have not scored more than 50 points in a game. In those four games, the Bulldogs are 1-3.
“It’s about the offense,” Lee said. “Our defense is not allowing any more points than the last five years. It’s our offense that just stutters at times, and it really hurts. It’s all about offense right now. Until we figure out how to score over 50, every game is going to be really hard to win.”
The Bulldogs (8-17, 5-5) came out rolling on offense thanks to the play of senior Jenna Dolezal. Dolezal scored 12 first-half points to spark the Bulldogs in the early going as they trailed by just one at the half.
It wasn’t enough for the LP/HT though as the Bulldogs went cold from the field in the second half and the Irish heated up. After a 3-pointer from Marissa Radtke put the Bulldogs up 32-27, it was all Irish the rest of the way.
A steal and layup from Maple Lake’s Calli Maki put the Irish up 36-34 with just over nine minutes to go, and it was just the beginning of a big run for the Irish. Back-to-back 3-pointers from Maki and Mollie Schieber sparked a 9-0 run for the Irish as they never looked back for their sixth win in a row.
Following the loss, the Lakers turn their focus to Howard Lake-Waverly-Winsted for their regular-season finale. The Bulldogs will host the Lakers Friday, Feb. 23 in Lester Prairie.
Look for the rest of the story, as well as more HJ sports coverage, in the Friday, Feb. 23 edition of the Herald Journal. Click here for subscription information.
MAPLE LAKE 66, LP/HT 47
IRISH: 24;42;–66
BULLDOGS: 23;24;–47
MAPLE LAKE: Mackenna Brown 18, Linsey Rachel 11, Grace Heying 11, Calli Maki 11, Mollie Schieber 7, Katie Goelz 4, Anna Becker 2, Caite Fobbe 2.
LP/HT: Jenna Dolezal 19, Emma Blashack 7, Marissa Radtke 6, Taylor Ebert 6, Emily Rademacher 4, Josie Dolezal 3, Kayla Weinzierl 2.