The Minnewaska Area girls basketball team improved to 2-0 for the season with a 70-24 victory at home over Eden Valley-Watkins last Tuesday night.  It was the second-straight 70-point effort for the Lakers, who also scored 70 points during a 70-21 win over Lac qui Parle in the season opener.

The final score actually could have been much worse as the Lakers led 50-14 late in the first half before coasting to the win with a 20-7 edge in scoring during the second half.

Sydney Dahl had 14 points to lead the Lakers, while Alia Randt added 13 and Megan Thorfinnson scored 12.

The next four games will be much tougher for the Lakers, who are set to host BBE, Tuesday (tomorrow) and play at Montevideo, Friday before getting ready for NLS and Sauk Centre the following week.

“We played very well defensively and, although we have some things to work on offensively, we did shoot the 3-point shot very well with 10 three-pointers,” coach Nick Danielson said.  “We’re just going to try to keep getting better every game and work on the small things.  That should help make us a very good team by the end of the season.”

Minnewaska 70, EVW 24

The Lakers led 50-17 at halftime before settling for a 70-24 victory over Eden Valley-Watkins in a game played last Tuesday night at home.

The Lakers led early 6-4 before going on a big 22-5 run that increased the lead to 28-9 with 8:12 left in the first half.

Both teams struggled to score over the next four minutes as Minnewaska Area maintained a 29-10 lead with 4:19 left in the first.

Less than one minute later (3:21 left in first half), the lead was up to 40-10 as the Lakers scored 11 points in 58 seconds.  Minnewaska Area continued its assault on the basket by increasing the lead to 50-14 with 36 seconds left in the first before EVW ended the half with a 3-pointer.

Overall, the Lakers went on a 21-7 run to close out the first half over a span of less than four minutes.  How’s that for scoring?

“The girls are really buying into the style we want to play; playing tough defense and pushing the basketball while trying to get easy baskets in transition,” coach Danielson said.  “It’s a fun way to play as long as we can execute.”

The Lakers scored from everywhere on the court.  Minnewaska was 10-of-16 from the line, 10-of-30 from 3-point range and 15-of-40 on two-point field goal tries.

Sydney Dahl led a balanced effort for the Lakers with 14 points, three steals, two assists and six blocked shots, while Alia Randt added 13 points, three assists and three steals, and Megan Thorfinnson put in 12 points while adding four steals and two assists.

Ten different Lakers attempted at least one 3-pointer on the night with six players connecting on at least one, including Dahl, who was 2-for-2 from long range, Randt (2-of-5) and Thorfinnson (3-of-9)

Overall nine different Minnewaska players hit the scoring column as Kendall Danielson had nine points and two assists, Lauryn Ankeny had seven points, four assists, three rebounds and five steals, Olivia Danielson registered six points, four assists, five boards and a team-high seven steals, and Jayda Kolstoe added six points and five rebounds.

Also scoring for the Lakers, who shot 35 percent from the field and 62 percent from the line, were Berlynn Green with two points and Amber Peabody with one.

Other Lakers notes

Sauk Centre won last year’s WCC title with a 12-0 record, followed by Minnewaska (10-2), WCA and BOLD (both 7-5), Morris Area-CA (4-8), Melrose (2-10) and Montevideo (0-12).

at Waska 70, EVW 24

EVW 17 7 —  24

Minnewaska (2-0) 50 20 — 70

WASKA stats:  25-70 FG (10-30 3pt); 10-16 FT; 20 assists; 22 rebounds; 25 steals; 11 fouls; 12 turnovers; 11 blocks. . . Scoring:  Sydney Dahl 14, Alia Randt 13, Megan Thorfinnson 12, Kendall Danielson 9, Lauryn Ankeny 7, Olivia Danielson 6, Jayda Kolstoe 6, Berlynn Green 2, Amber Peabody 1 . . . Rebounding:  Kolstoe 5, O. Danielson 5, Addy Kath 3, Ankeny 3, Dahl 2. . . Assists:  O. Danielson 4, Ankeny 4, Randt 3, Kath 2, Dahl 2, Thorfinnson 2, K. Danielson 2. . . Steals:  O. Danielson 7, Ankeny 5, Thorfinnson 4, Dahl 3, Randt 3 . . . Blocks:  Dahl 6

EVW stats:  8-45 FG (1-6 3pt); 7-10 FT; 32 rebounds; 5 steals; 3 assists; 15 fouls; 25 turnovers . . . Other stats not available

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