Again, it all came down to the most fundamental of skills for the Albert Lea High School girls’ basketball team.

Saturday, January 19, 2002

Again, it all came down to the most fundamental of skills for the Albert Lea High School girls’ basketball team.

The Tigers just couldn’t put the ball in the basket often enough and lost 57-39 to Winona Friday night.

&uot;One thing we’re still struggling with is shooting percentage,&uot; said Tigers coach Karol Hansen, whose team fell to 1-8 in the conference and 4-8 overall. &uot;We had a lot of easy shots and we just didn’t put them away.&uot;

The Tigers were 14-for-47 overall from the floor, 1-for-3 on three-point shots, while the Winhawks were 22-for-46 overall and 2-for-8 on threes. Winona improved its record to 5-4 in the Big Nine and 8-5 overall.

It was essentially decided in the third quarter, when Winona erased a 25-24 Albert Lea halftime lead and took a 39-32 advantage into the fourth period.

What happened in the second half?

&uot;They just outhustled us,&uot; said Hansen. &uot;We let up with our intensity, both offensively and defensively. I don’t know if we didn’t have anything left in the second half or what, but the momentum sure shifted.&uot;

The Tigers also hurt themselves with 26 turnovers and were outrebounded 32-27. The Winhawks had 24 turnovers.

Aubree Page led the Tigers in scoring, unofficially totaling 10 points. She also had six rebounds and three assists.

Jenny Vanderploeg totaled eight points, nine rebounds and three steals, Danielle Rankin four rebounds and two points. Other Tiger statistics: Amy Ravenhorst, three rebounds; Beth Kolling, three steals; Danielle Jacobs, three assists; Jenny Hovendick, four points.

Hansen said it was the second frustrating loss in a row for the Tigers.

&uot;The last two games have been tough,&uot; said the coach. &uot;They’ve been tough in that we we lost, and tough in that we know it’s us and we’ve got to get the job done. It’s not that the other teams have truly been beating us; we’ve just been doing things to lose the games. I know if we play four solid quarters of basketball, we can win.&uot;

The Tigers hope to get on the winning track Tuesday when they host New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva in a nonconference game.