WAUSA — After dropping their second-round Lewis and Clark Conference Basketball Tournament match-up, the Wausa Lady Vikings may have caught that season-ending momentum they have waited for.
Wausa fell 46-26 to the Hartington- Newcastle Lady Wildcats on Jan. 30, then the Lady Vikings (4-14) ripped off back-toback wins over the Winside Lady Wildcats (46-28) on Jan. 31 and the rival Bloomfield Queen Bees (39-30) on Feb. 2 to finish last week on a high note and with a lot to look forward to in the next few weeks.
Head coach Shane Anderson felt Wausa’s game against Hartington- Newcastle showed promise, yet turnovers continued to cause problems for his team, especially after seeing a 15-13 halftime lead go the other way.
“I felt really good about our defense, but offensively we already had 21 turnovers at halftime,” Anderson said. “It was kind of a house-of-cards-type feeling, in that when we quit making a few shots, or they began to turn those turnovers into points, the game would get away from us.”
The Lady Wildcats then started hitting from the outside and pulled away.
“We did get good looks, and missed four easy layups that could have kept the game closer in the third and led to some frustration on the girls’ end,” Anderson said. “I thought Sienna West played pretty well, and she got some shots to go, especially in the first half.”
West, a senior, scored eight points to lead Wausa.
Making up a rescheduled game against Winside, the Lady Vikings used a 19-8 second quarter to put the opposition away early.
“It was good to get back on the court the next day and try to figure out some of our turnover issue,” Anderson said. “It wasn’t perfect, but the way Winside plays allowed us to play slower on offense, and that was what we needed. They pack into a zone and make you work the ball and use passing to get the ball inside. I thought our patience was much better. We got some pretty good looks from three and were able to get the ball to the high post.
“Defensively, we tried to do some things we don’t normally do, throwing some zones at people that we have been working on, just haven’t had a chance to implement during games. I liked what I saw out of them and it allows us to use our athletic freshmen in a way that will suit them better in the future.”
West scored 14 points and sophomore Taylor Dawson added 11 points and six rebounds and freshman Elle Brazel scored nine points and had six steals. Senior Hadley Vanness added eight points.
Wausa rallied from a slow start with another big second quarter to lead 20-15 at halftime and it held on from there. The win gave the Lady Vikings seventh place in the conference tournament.
“This was the third match-up with Bloomfield, with us losing the prior two, and I think our girls were motivated to play,” Anderson said. “The last time we played Bloomfield, they got on us pretty good, and we came out like we had something to prove. Bloomfield has a nice team, but one that I think is similar to us, and losing by almost 30 last time was not a good reflection of who we are as a team.”
The win was a combination of good defense and players making big plays that gave Wausa the win.
Dawson had 10 points and seven steals, junior Olivia Barta had eight points and six rebounds and Vanness added nine points and six rebounds while Brazel scored eight points.
“Our Winside game was our first win in a while,” Brazel said. “We got kicked in the butt the last time we played Bloomfield, and it was just nice to finally beat them. It felt pretty good and it was exciting. At halftime, we were all telling ourselves not to let the lead go. Coach was really confident in telling us we weren’t losing any more games and I think we just wanted to prove him right. The Bloomfield game was one of our best nights we’ve ever played defense and that helped us a lot.”
This week, Wausa made up a game against Osmond/Randolph on Feb. 5 — the Lady Vikings lost 44-25 — and finished the home portion of its schedule against Hartington-Newcastle on Feb. 6. Wausa is set to travel to Neligh- Oakdale on Feb. 8 to wrap the 2024 regular season.
“For districts, we will open against Winside in the bunny bracket game of a five-team sub,” Anderson said.
“Where we go from there is still undecided. Right now, it would be Wynot, but Howells-Dodge is close behind them and still a possibility.”
