The JWP girls’ basketball team continued their exciting season with a win against section rival Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial on Tuesday, December 10. It was also a fantastic weekend for them at Maple River’s Holiday Showcase. While some teams only played one game in the showcase, they played two, defeating St. Cloud Cathedral on Friday night by a score of 64-44. They also played their most complete game of the season against Glencoe-Silver Lake – a team Head Coach Brandon Goebel labeled as a Section 2AA title contender – defeating them 67-29 in the final game of the showcase on Saturday, Dec. 14.
Bulldogs 68, Knights 52
Like last week, the girls had a tale of two different games in this one. This time, they played two different halves of basketball.
While limiting Lake Crystal initially, the girls had trouble defending their side of the court throughout the first half. The Knights were especially lethal when they drove to the basket. They either hit the layup shot or made JWP pay for fouling with their accuracy on the free throws. The Bulldogs had issues covering a few players, notably Clara Jeddeloh, formerly of St. Clair. Jeddeloh kept finding a way to get open and was deadly accurate on three-pointers.
Slight issues with inaccuracy on shots in the first half also hurt JWP, although the problems weren’t as bad as they were against Hayfield. Both teams were playing physical on both sides of the court throughout the game, too, and it cost both teams fouls upon fouls.
With a 33-22 halftime in the Knights’ favor, many would have thought that spelled trouble for the Bulldogs the rest of the game. However, JWP flipped the script on LCWM and outscored them in the second half, 46-19.
“I think every game, especially early in the season, is a learning curve for us,” Goebel said. “We don’t want to start slow in the first half, of that spells trouble for us.”
Hints of a comeback came as JWP lowered the Knights’ lead to seven at 36-43. Halfway into the second, senior Presley James stole the ball and had a fast break, which helped them tie the game initially. Although LCWM retook the lead, junior Nevaeh Weimert’s effort helped them take their first lead in the second half, 49-47. From there, it seemed like the Bulldogs couldn’t be stopped, especially junior Mikayla Wheelock, who hit two three-pointers a minute apart from each other to extend their lead.
What helped the Bulldogs was improving slightly on defense and limiting Lake Crystal on three-point shots, which helped the Knights take a double-digit lead by halftime. What also helped the Bulldogs was the Knights’ knack for fouling. Several players were in danger of fouling out for LCWM, which may have limited their physicality on defense as they didn’t want anyone to foul out. Although that was the case, it was JWP that had one player foul out: Hope Dimmel.
Despite that, JWP had a manageable lead and eventually won 68-52. The non-starters got some time on the court, and senior Onikia Herme scored the final two points as she beat the buzzer.
James led the way with 19 points on the night, seven rebounds, and six blocks. Weimert had 15 points. Katie Olson had 13 points, seven rebounds, and five steals. Wheelock had 12 points and seven rebounds. Lilly Strauss had six rebounds.
Bulldogs 64, Cathedral 44
St. Cloud Cathedral’s boys gave JWP plenty of trouble in the Hardwood Classic Championship in Maple River the week before.
However, the Lady Dawgs showed them how it’s done.
Although the Journal couldn’t make this game, Goebel said that the girls mostly had it under control. There was a moment when the Crusaders narrowed their 17-4 lead to about seven or eight points, but the girls tightened up on defense and got better at rebounding as the game went on. The Bulldogs eventually defeated St. Cloud Cathedral 64-44.
Katie Olson led the way with 20 points, while Weimert had 15, and James had 12. James led the team in rebounds with eight, while Wheelock paired her 11-point night with seven rebounds.
In each game played at the showcase, a player of the game was announced and was given a complementary shirt in the process and a photo. Olson earned the honor in this matchup.
Bulldogs 67, Panthers 29
As mentioned earlier, Goebel mentioned Glencoe-Silver Lake as a Section 2AA title contender this season. After all, they made the section championship last season and lost a hard-fought battle against Waterville-Elysian-Morristown.
So, either the Panthers had a very off game, or JWP’s girls are just that good. We’ll go with the latter.
The Bulldogs wasted no time getting to work on GSL. As soon as Presley James won the tip-off, she received the pass and got the layup for a quick 2-0 start. Although the team usually likes to play fast, which can sometimes cost them, they kept the tempo at the right pace. Not too fast, not too slow…perfect.
Glencoe-Silver Lake was stumped as they could rarely find an open shot. Out of the few shots they did take, many didn’t fall in. Only a handful of threes made it past JWP’s defense. A 27-9 lead was slightly narrowed to 43-19 in JWP’s favor.
The team played so well in the second half that they limited the Panthers to only ten points and eventually forced mercy rule when they went up by 35 with eight minutes left. A few non-starters got some time on the court, and even they played well defensively against GSL.
The Panthers, who averaged over 66 points per game before this game, were stunned as JWP only allowed 29 all night. It was, by all metrics, the Bulldogs’ best game of the season so far. It was their second-best on offense (only bested by their 71-point campaign in their season opener). It was their best defensive performance, narrowly beating their game against Sibley East, where they allowed only 30.
Goebel agreed that given everything, it was their girls’ best performance so far. “We put it together for the most part tonight,” he said. “We started off well and hit a few shots early, and our offensive performance carried over to the defense.”
Although he felt the team didn’t rebound that well in the first half, he felt their rebounding was much better in the second half and
Olson had her best night of the season with 28 points with six rebounds. Weimert had 13 points, with James contributing nine points and six rebounds. Wheelock also had nine points and led the team in rebounds with ten on the night. Weimert was named the player of the game in this match.
JWP extended its undefeated streak to six, and the wins against LCWM and Glencoe-Silver Lake counted toward their standings in Section 2AA, where they are in first place with a 3-0 record. They also are 2-0 in the conference standings and are currently tied for first in the west division with New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva.
The girls have a few more games before they end the 2024 part of the season, starting with a trip to Blooming Prairie on Tuesday, December 17. They will host Maple River the following Friday before a well-deserved week off. They will end the year with a trip over the holidays to Norwood Young America for their tournament starting Friday, December 27. They will start the tournament by playing the hosting Raiders before taking on BOLD (Olivia) the following Saturday.
