WATERTOWN – When things got tough for the Watertown-Mayer girls basketball team it wasn’t about the individual. Instead, the Royals leaned on each other to withstand a comeback attempt by the Dassel-Cokato Chargers and finished strong to earn a bounce-back 58-43 win on their home floor Monday night.
“We had good flow in the first half,” W-M coach John Rosholt said. “Kids shot in rhythm. For some reason, we came out a little tight in the second half. I think they (Dassel-Cokato) had a little something to do with that.”
“We knew that we were going to have come out strong,” Mercedes Burmeister added. “After a loss like that, that hit hard for me. We knew we needed to come out strong and we did that. We accomplished most of the goals we set for ourselves.”
The Royals came out swinging early building a 40-20 lead over D-C in the first half. The second half is when adversity set in for W-M. D-C opened the second half on a 16-6 run to cut their deficit in half. On top of that, Mallory Czinano, one of W-M’s top scorers, was forced to sit after picking up her fourth foul with just under 11 minutes left to play.
“It’s one of those times where you’re thinking uh oh,” Rosholt said. “They did get close, but the girls battled and extended the lead back. It was frustrating to score 40 in the first half and 18 in the second half, but the kids have to learn and adjust to things. There are things we can learn from this game.”
Instead of panic settling in for the Royals, they leaned on each other. The next five field goals for the Royals were made by five different players as everyone got in on the action as they pushed their lead back to 17 and put the Chargers away for good.
“On our team, we don’t have that one person who is always doing everything,” Burmeister said “It’s really important that we move the ball with each other and everybody’s taking shots. That sort of team dynamic is super important for us.”
After Czinano was forced to sit on the bench with four fouls, Abby Otterness delivered for the Royals with two made free throws. Then it was a backdoor cut and bucket from Maddy Onell followed by a 3-pointer from Bella Barden. Burmeister would add a bucket of her own and Carly Killian capped off the run for the Royals with a steal and layup in transition to give the Royals their comfortable lead back with Czinano still on the bench.
“It took us a little bit,” Burmeister said. “We didn’t score much, especially in the first 10 minutes of the second half. Once we calmed down and just played our game, it came naturally to us.”
“Our kids are capable of big things,” Rosholt added. “We talk a lot about confidence.”
W-M would hold off the comeback attempt for the Chargers with the strong run midway through the second half to pick up their ninth win of the season. Although they also have seven losses, the Royals have only lost back-to-back games once this season as they have been able to find a way to learn and move on together.
“We just have to keep a good mindset,” Burmeister said about the team’s ability to bounce back from a loss. “As long as we can have amnesia and forget about bad things that happen and focus on what we can do better, we’ll use those losses as learning points. That’ll keep us going.”
Putting two halves together will be the key for the Royals going forward as the season progresses. W-M has played well at times, but putting a complete game together remains the goal for them as the postseason looms on the horizon.
“It’s a team that’s in progress,” Rosholt said. “They are making strides. We’re getting better. The conference is pretty even right now. Any night you’ll go up against a tough opponent. We’re working on putting two halves together. We’re learning and we’re making those incremental steps.”
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Follow Kip Kovar on Twitter: @Kovar_HJSports