Rebel girls handle Bethlehem Academy
Published 12:16 am Saturday, January 24, 2009
The Faribault Bethlehem Academy girls’ basketball team brought everything it had Friday night to Wells but it still wasn’t enough as a tough United South Central team won by a score of 53-42.
The Rebels (10-5, 7-2) put together another solid showing as they just passed the midway point of the regular season.
Val Sahr added to her number of good showings as she put in 12 points, pulled down 15 rebounds and was just under 50 percent from the free throw line making 4 of 10.
Danielle Koestler and Kayla Stenzel also added to the rebound total by grabbing seven each on the night and Kostler was USCs’ high point gatherer with 13 points making 7 of 8 from the free throw line.
Bethlehem Academy (3-13, 3-6) showed some skill and tenacity in the first half, keeping it close for a better part early on, but the strength and size of USC just was to much for the Cardinals to handle.
Before the halftime buzzer sounded USC had stretched its lead to eight points.
USCs’ head coach Stu Hendrickson feels like his girls are playing well at this point of the season.
“I am pretty happy with where the girls are at with their play,” Hendrickson said. “We need to get better when we are in pressure situations but after a game like last night in New Richland we come back a bit flat in a game like this but it was still a good win.”
The Rebels had seven players score in the game, six of who scored five or more points.
“We have some really good balance coming off the bench,” Hendrickson said. “If some of our starters aren’t quite on, we always have someone who comes in and steps up.”
Another bright spot for the Rebels is in their disciplined play defensively around the ball. In Friday night’s matchup the Rebels got to the line 34 times compared to their opponents 11.
The high scorer for BA was Karianne Nass, a junior guard who scored 19 points on the night. Nass’ play kept the Cardinals within breathing distance most of the game.
Next week the Rebels will only have one game as they will play another conference opponent in Janesville against Janesville-Waldorf-Pemberton (2-13) on Thursday night.
USC 53, Bethlehem Academy 42
BA 19 23 — 42
USC 27 26 — 53
USC scoring: Danielle Koestler 13, Val Sahr 12, Nicole Youngblom 6, Kayla Stenzel 5, Sabrina Bushlack 5, Lindsey Dahl 5, Taylor Allis 5, Ciara Christenson 2.
BA scoring: Karianne Nass 19, Stephanie Meschke 6, Mollie Zweber 5, Jena Budde 4, Taryn Ashley 4, Samantha McBain 2, Victoria Nass 2.