Cuba's Big First Half Too Much For Pointers Girls to Overcome

By John Dalton

Cuba City’s 1st half-pressure defense and transition points were too much for the visiting Mineral Point girls Friday night in a 64-42 loss.

Early in the game, Pointer Belle Watters drilled a 3-point shot that would put Mineral Point up 7-6, but the Cubans would then go on a quick 10-0 run and at the 10:00 minute mark of the first half held a 16-7 lead.  

After a timeout, Mineral Point would cut the deficit to six with two free throws by Sadie Miller and a basket by Ella Kroll, but Cuba City then went on an 11-0 run and by halftime held a comfortable 39-19 lead.  

“Cuba City is a very good team, but I didn't think we played our best game. To compete with really good teams you have to be able to at least match or even surpass their energy and effort levels, we didn't do that on a consistent level. It's early in the season and we can still reach our goals but will have to get back to work and continue to get better every day,” said Mineral Point Head Coach Nick Jelle following the game.

The second half saw a very even basketball game and the first half's 20-point deficit was just too much for the young Pointers to overcome.  “You can't give a team like that easy buckets, at times I thought we handled their pressure well, but certainly caused us trouble as well. At halftime we just needed to get that energy and effort level ramped up, continue to put pressure, and attack them offensively,” said Jelle.

He went on to say, “We learned a lot about ourselves and where we need to be and get to. We have a talented young group and we made some young team mistakes. It's a different level of intensity playing the top-tier teams and we’ll get back to work and continue to work on ourselves”

Coach Jelle also had a couple of shout-outs.  “I thought Ella Kroll gave us everything she could, she's a great competitor and makes things happen on both ends of the floor. Freshman Sadie and Sophie Miller gave us some great minutes as well. Belle Watters had a tough assignment guarding Olson, but I thought she played hard and knocked down a few shots.”

Next up for Mineral Point is a Thursday night contest at home against Riverdale.  Tip-off is set for 7:30 p.m.  Coach Jelle, “I expect another physical game, but as always it will be about us, and what kind of effort and energy will bring.”

BOX SCORE

CUBA CITY          39  -  25  -  64

MINERAL POINT 19  - 23  -  42

Cuba City (fg-ft-tp); Olson 5-6-19, Crist 5-0-10, Runde 3-1-8, Rowe 2-2-7, Rogers 2-2-6, Wiegman 1-3-6, Kreger 2-0-5, Ingersoll 1-0-3.

3-pointers; Olson 3, Runde 1, Rowe 1, Wiegman 1, Ingersoll 1, Kreger 1.

Mineral Point (fg-ft-tp); Sophie Miller 3-2-11, Kroll 4-0-8, Watters 3-0-7, Kabat 2-0-4, Schultz 1-0-3, Galle 1-0-2, Ingwell 1-0-2, Hoffmann 0-2-2, Sadie Miller 0-2-2, Lindsey 0-1-1.

3-pointers; Miller 3, Schultz 1, Watters 1.