Cougars out-hustle No. 9 Indians

ACKLEY – AGWSR has had Clarksville’s number for the past three seasons.

The previous two season, the Cougars may have had more talent, but in the case of this Monday, Jan. 20 non-conference game at Ackley, the home team showed more hustle than the Class 1A ninth-ranked Indians for a 54-47 victory.

“When you look at our team, we’ve got a lot of really talented players,” Clarksville coach Ross Timmermans said. “We just don’t work hard. So, it’s hard to tell how we matched-up because we didn’t play hard.

“They out-played us in every facet of the game – offensive glass, defensive glass, free throw percentage, field goal percentage…getting on the floor, diving on the floor for loose balls – they beat us in every facet of the game and if these girls want to accomplish what they want to accomplish, they’ve got to make some changes.”

AGWSR head coach Laurie Gann said she was pleased with her team’s efforts.

“It was a great team defensive effort out of our kids tonight,” Gann said. “MaKenna Kuper, I thought matched-up with what we thought the person we needed to take out of the game and their offense and that’s (Kori) Wedeking with them. She continues to do an awesome job and the rest of our defense feeds off of that.”

Considering Kuper missed the Cougars’ previous game with an injury, a loss against BCLUW, and was seen with ice surrounding her ankle afterward, that was huge.

“They’ve kind of been penciled on our schedule all year in the sense that we knew they have got a senior group that has been there the last few years and done well together,” Gann said. “We beat them over at their place last year and even though they were ranked, we were ranked at the end, too, but it was a chance for us to get a little respect. We feel like our three losses…Thursday night Kuper didn’t play because she was injured and after a loss like that and she wanted to play…I’m kind of second-guessing myself.

“To me, I needed to get her more days of rest to be able to have a chance (this) week with our games we have to have her. I feel better now, even though we got upset (by BCLUW). It puts a wrinkle in our conference, but then again, this game, we wanted to compete with them so we can show people we can compete.”

And Kuper had a big game on the offensive end, as well, going off for a shared game-high 15 points along with Whitanie Nederhoff. Rachel Sicard finished with 10 points despite foul trouble.

Usually, AGWSR is led by Alyssa Hames and Sicard.

“Offensively, the first half set the tone for our players,” Gann said. “We stepped up to our capabilities this season. It’s been a Hames-Sicard thing and we had Gracie Finger, Kuper, too, scored more points than she normally scores. Hopefully, that’s a growth factor for us and help alleviate some of the pressure that Sicard and Hames sees.”

The last time the Indians played at Ackley, they were sent home from the post-season, but it is a different team they were seeing.

“AGWSR was an extremely talented basketball team (two years ago): Mandy Willems is a Division I basketball player right now,” Timmermans said. “Aubrie Fisher is a Division III dual athlete. That team that we played (here) two years ago is much more talented than they are now. The team that beat us last year (at home), Aubrie Fisher, she went off against us and then this year’s team just out-worked us. I think I want to make a bold statement and say we’re more talented than they are, they just out-worked us.”

A physical game, with two AGWSR players finishing with four fouls and Chloe Ross fouling out, Timmermans didn’t want to talk about that aspect.

“AGWSR came out with a game-plan to spread us out, take time off the clock, get an early lead and continue to take time off the clock,” Timmermans said. “And they executed that very well. You’ve got to tip your cap to them.”

Gann said that she thought the physicality of the game worked to her team’s advantage.

“I told our team that we play in a physical conference, they are not going to get away from that,” Gann said. “That physicality will be an edge for us. I thought they brought it back to us. I’ve seen them play and night-in and night-out they don’t even have to do that. So, I thought we play better when we are strong and physical, but it was very physical on both ends. Luckily, we were able to withstand some of it, I guess.”

AGWSR 55, Clarksville 47

Clarksville (9-2, 4-0)– Cailyn Hardy 1 0-0 2, Janet Borchardt 4 2-3 10, Emma Poppe 3 0-0 8, Chloe Ross 2 3-6 8, Katie Stirling 1 0-0 3, Cheyenne Behrends 2 1-4 6, Kori Wedeking 4 0-0 9. Totals16 6-13 47.

AGWSR (10-4, 5-2)– Alyssa Hames 3 2-3 8, Brynn Smith 0 0-0 0, Natalie Lippert 1 2-2 4, MaKenna Kuper 5 5-6 15, Morgan Bakker 0 0-0 0, Gracie Finger 5 4-9 15, Whitanie Nederhoff 1 1-2 3, Rachel Sicard 5 0-2 10. Totals 20 14-28 55.

Clarksville   5   13   13   16      -   47

AGWSR       9   19   11   16      -   55

Three-point goals – Clark 4 (Ross, Stirling, Bloker, Wedeking); AGWSR 1 (Finger). Rebounds– Clark, NA; AGWSR, NA. Assists– Clark, NA; AGWSR, NA. Steals– Clark, NA; AGWSR, NA. Blocks– Clark, NA; AGWSR, NA. Total fouls– Clark 17, AGWSR 16. Fouled out – Clark (Ross); AGWSR, None.