Winhawks hold off Tiger charge

Published 3:51 am Saturday, February 21, 2009

Albert Lea senior Katie Schou made it senior night a memorable for the girls’ basketball team with her outstanding 3-point shooting.

Schou set a career high with seven 3s in the game and finished with a game-high 23 points, but the Tigers weren’t able to overcome a 10-point halftime deficit in a 65-58 loss to Winona at Albert Lea High School.

“I’ve been feeling it lately,” said Schou, who also set a career high in points. “It was nice that I got that many. I just wish we would have won as a team, that would have been more special.”

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While Schou was able to light it up from all over behind the arc, the rest of the team wasn’t able to find much success shooting the ball in the first half. Albert Lea (9-15, 6-10) shot just 18 percent in the first half and the Winhawks (10-12, 7-9) were able hit shots from the perimeter when they needed to during the first half and took advantage of Tiger turnovers to build a double-digit lead at the break.

“That always kills when you shoot that percentage,” said Albert Lea head coach Sean Gillam. “They pretty much outshot us.”

Winona extended its lead to 17 with three quick baskets to start the second half, but Schou, Morgan Stadheim and Heather Greibrok were able to whittle it down to six with 12 minutes to go as Albert Lea went on a 13-3 run.

The Tigers were able to stay within striking distance throughout the second half, but each time they inched closer the Winhawks were able to respond from the line. Winona made 22 of its 30 free throws Friday, including shooting 81 percent from the line on 18-of-22 shooting in the second half.

“Really in the second half when we got close they popped free throws,” Gillam said.

Megan Lueck led the Winhawks with 18 points on 6-for-15 shooting, which included going 2 of 3 from 3-point range. Allison Martin and Hannah Norman had 15 apiece and Callie Glenna added 10 off the bench.

The Tigers were coming off a game against No. 1-ranked New Prague the night before in New Prague and Gillam felt that played a part in the loss.

Stadheim finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds, but the Winhawks were able to shutdown Abbey Arends. Arends missed all six of her shots from the field and was held to just one point.

Winona 65, Albert Lea 58

Winona 30 35 — 65

Albert Lea 20 38 — 58

Winona scoring: Megan Lueck 18, Allison Martin 15, Hannah Norman 15, Callie Glenna 10, Courtney Meier 4, Shauna Mahoney 3.

Albert Lea scoring: Katie Schou 23, Morgan Stadheim 17, Alyssa Sager 11, Heather Greibrok 6, Abbey Arends 1.