Milaca
Mazie Jurek scored a transition basket off passes from Hope Kuechle and Sami Winter. The Cubs girls’ basketball team led 44-33 over the Milaca Wolves with 11:30 remaining in the game.
The Wolves started hitting buckets to close the gap, leading to a tight finish, one that saw the two teams tied with under two minutes left in the game. The Cubs eventually found themselves on the losing end of a 59-56 road game Monday, Jan. 27.
“I am proud of the way we played against a really good Milaca team as we had every chance to win the game,” Cubs head coach Jeremy Kuechle said via email, “but we have to learn how to take care of the ball better as turnovers became an issue down the stretch, and gave our opponent the opportunity to come back, and we can’t do that against good teams.”
The Cubs committed 26 turnovers, a number that proved “costly,” especially in the closing minutes, according to coach Kuechle. Milaca also shot better from the free-throw line, finishing 11 of 12 from the charity stripe, compared to 5 of 10 for the Cubs.
Midway through the first half, the Cubs jumped out to a 16-4 lead following a Kuechle three-pointer. Jurek scored the final five points of the half, including a three-pointer at the buzzer, to give the Cubs a 26-19 halftime lead.
After taking that 11-point lead in the second half, the Cubs led by as many as seven with 7:25 left, but two straight Wolves’ three–pointers cut the team’s lead to one, at 47-46.
Isabelle Schmitz scored a fast-break basket, and Winter scored off a post move to push the Cubs’ lead back to five, at 51-46, with five minutes remaining. The Wolves bounced back, going on an 8-3 run, capped by a couple more three-pointers, to tie the game at 54-54 with 1:51 remaining.
Schmitz scored on an offensive rebound putback to give the Cubs back the lead, at 56-54, with 1:26 left. This proved to be the last points the Cubs would score, seeing the Wolves end the game with five straight points.
Holding a one-point lead, the Cubs got called for a loose ball foul with 16 seconds left. The Wolves sunk the ensuing two free-throws to put the Cubs in a 57-56 deficit.
A Cubs’ turnover and foul led to two more made Wolves free-throws. Trailing 59-56 with 12 seconds left, the Cubs’ final three-point attempt would not come to be, providing for the final margin.
Jurek led the Cubs with 17 points. Kuechle posted 10 points, Schmitz 10 points and a team-high seven assists, Lexi Schindele seven points and nine rebounds, and Winter a team-high 11 rebounds.
Royalton
The Cubs scored first versus the Royalton Royals on Mazie Jurek’s offensive rebound and made basket. The team would not lead again, allowing the Royals to score the next seven points to fall into a 7-2 deficit five minutes into the game.
In a battle of first and second place teams in the Central Minnesota Conference, the Cubs struggled offensively and paid the price in a 50-24 road loss.
Entering this game, the Cubs came in with a 12-5 overall record and a 6-1 record in the Central Minnesota Conference. The -Royals entered this game with a 17-0 overall record and an 8-0 record in Central Minnesota Conference play.
“There was great atmosphere in the gym tonight with a packed house and it really made for a big game environment,” Coach -Kuechle said via email. “It’s unfortunate we didn’t shoot very well, but we also had too many turnovers to be successful so we must learn from this in order to… (take) a step forward.”
The Cubs committed 20 turnovers, compared to just forcing 13 Royals turnovers. The Cubs also dropped the rebounding battle by a 43-30 margin, “largely,” Coach Kuechle said, due to the Cubs’ many missed shots.
In the first half, Lily VonWahlde sunk a three-pointer to draw the Cubs to within three, at 10-7, with 10 minutes remaining. The Cubs struggled shooting the ball and the Royals went into halftime with a 34-15 edge.
The Cubs made just 6 of 26 field goal attempts in this opening half.
The team’s defense held the Royals – a team that averages 63 points per game – in check, according to Coach Kuechle, but the Cubs could not cut into that second half lead, scoring nine points in that closing half. For the game, the Cubs shot 19% from the floor.
Jurek led the Cubs with a near double-double performance of 10 points and eight rebounds, along with a team-high two blocks. VonWahlde finished with nine points, Sami Winter eight rebounds, and Hope Kuechle four steals to also pace the Cubs.
With the loss, the Cubs dropped to 12-6 and 6-2 in the Central Minnesota Conference.
Next action
After hosting Paynesville on Feb. 4, the Cubs girls have a rematch with that same Royalton team at home on Thursday, Feb. 6, and then close out the week by hitting the road to play Eden Valley-Watkins on Friday, Feb. 7. The following week, the team heads back on the road to play Upsala on Tuesday, Feb. 11.