The Minnewaska Area girls basketball team earned its first win of the season during a 60-54 WCC victory over West Central Area, Thursday night at Minnewaska Area. Brooke Kolstoe and Megan Thorfinnson were among the leaders for the Lakers, who were tied at 41-41 late in the game before going on a 17-4 run to seal the win.  

Kolstoe had a double-double of 14 points and 15 rebounds, while Thorfinnson had 17 points, hitting three of the Lakers’ six 3-pointers on the night. 

“It was definitely a great team win,” coach Sidney Schiffler said.  “Winning is something everyone always strives for; however, we are also playing very tough teams, which will only help us get better throughout the season.  It is a long season, but our girls continue to battle, so as long as our coaches see our girls competing until the very last buzzer, then we will be happy.”

Minnewaska Area, which improved to 1-3 in the WCC and 1-7 overall, were also set to play at Litchfield last Tuesday, but that game was postponed to Saturday, Jan. 21 due to weather.

In another change to the schedule, the Lakers added a home game with MACCRAY, Tuesday, Feb. 7 to replace a canceled game with Benson, which is not playing a WCC schedule this season.

The Lakers, who opened up the season with six games against state-ranked opponents in the first seven games (see Speaking of Sports on page 2B) have a three-game week at home this week, beginning with a game against Eden Valley-Watkins, Monday, and continuing with a game versus BBE, Tuesday, Jan. 10, and Melrose Area, Thursday, Jan. 12.

Minnewaska 60, WCA 54

The Lakers earned a 60-54 win over West Central Area, Thursday, thanks to a well-balanced effort and swarming defense.

The two teams went back-and-forth in the first half before the Lakers took a late 25-24 lead after back-to-back baskets by Brooke Kolstoe.  

Avery Fier had a run of five points to end the first half for the Lakers, scoring on a steal and layup followed by a 3-pointer, to put Minnewaska Area up 30-27 going into the halftime break.

Baskets by Jayda Kolstoe and Megan Thorfinnson early in the second half kept the Lakers ahead 37-34 and a pair of free-throws by Lauryn Ankeny and Thorfinnson pushed the Lakers’ lead to 41-36.

WCA, which was led by 6-foot-2 center Claire Stark, tied up the game at 41-41 with just under 11 minutes left in the game, but when Brooke Kolstoe followed with a rebound and putback for a basket, the Lakers had the lead for good at 43-41.

Jayda Kolstoe and Sydney Dahl had two baskets each over the next five minutes to increase the Lakers’ lead to 54-45 as WCA went a stretch of five minutes with only one point.

It was time for the defense to put the game away for the Lakers as Brooke Kolstoe and Lauryn Ankeny had steals and layups over the next two WCA possessions, and Kolstoe also put back an offensive rebound, giving the Lakers their largest lead of the night at 58-45 with just under two minutes left in the game.

Minnewaska added two more free-throws the rest of the way while waiting out the final two minutes before celebrating the first victory with the home crowd.

Thorfinnson ended the game with 17 points, four assists, three rebounds and two steals, while Brooke Kolstoe added 14 points, 15 boards and three steals.

“Our strength is our team playing aggressive and using the momentum from that to get our offense going,” coach Schiffler said.  “The more defensively aggressive we are to start the game, the better the half we will have offensively as long as we don’t settle for shots and look to get the best possible shot we can.  I was proud of the effort by the girls and happy they could come out of the game with a win.”

The Lakers, who shot 31 percent from the field (20-for-63), also had eight points, three assists, five rebounds and two steals from Avery Fier, seven points, three assists and three boards from Sydney Dahl, and six points and three rebounds from Jayda Kolstoe.

Also scoring for the Lakers, who were 14-of-24 from the line, were Lauryn Ankeny with five points, and Leslie Murken with three points and two steals.

The Lakers went mainly with a lineup of two seniors, one junior, two sophomores and three ninth-graders  The team also has a ninth-grader and sophomore sitting on the bench with injuries who are among the top 10 players.

at Minnewaska Area 60, West Central Area 54

WCA 27 27 — 54

Minnewaska (1-7) 30 30 — 60

WASKA stats:  20-63 FG (6-24 3pt); 14-24 FT; 13 assists; 32 rebounds; 12 steals; 16 fouls; 19 turnovers . . . Scoring:  Megan Thorfinnson 17, Brooke Kolstoe 14, Avery Fier 8, Sydney Dahl 7, Jayda Kolstoe 6, Lauryn Ankeny 5, Leslie Murken 3. . . Rebounding:  B. Kolstoe 15, Fier 5, Thorfinnson 3, Dahl 3, J. Kolstoe 3 . . . Assists:  Thorfinnson 4, Fier 3, Dahl 3 . . . Steals:  B. Kolstoe 3, Fier 2, Thorfinnson 2, Murken 2

West Central Area stats:  Stats not available

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