Shooting woes plague Warhawk girls

SHEFFIELD — A glaring example of how West Fork girls’ basketball team has shot the ball was its performance in the third quarter of the Warhawks’ 50-33 loss to Mason City Newman.

They were 2-of-16 from the field as the Lady Knights turned a 24-20 halftime advantage to a 34-25 lead.

Coach Rodney Huber’s squad finished 14-of-52 for the entire game much to the frustration of the West Fork head man.

“We can’t shoot,” Huber said. “They double-teamed Emily and we weren’t patient enough to get her the ball and then we had open shots, we were getting in the lane, we were getting shots and to the free throw line. You can’t make shots, you can’t score, you can’t win.”

Much like the results from the field, the free throw line percentage wasn’t much better as the Warhawks went 3-of-12 from the charity stripe.

Caspers, who had nine points at halftime finished with 13 on 6-of-13 shooting from the field and 1-of-3 from the free throw line.

Huber said that the shooting problems haven’t changed since West Fork (2-4, 2-1) started the season.

“We have streaks where we have shot well,” Huber said. “We get the ball into Emily, that seems to help a lot. (But) everybody is going to double her, until somebody…I think we shot 20-some percent against Northwood, we won by 20-some points, but that’s not going to happen against good teams.

“When you shoot 20 percent, especially when you are not forcing turnovers and you are giving them easy transition threes and not doing the small stuff.”

The Lady Knights, which had gone 4-for-63 from beyond the three-point line in their previous two games, certainly did better against West Fork, going 8-of-29.

When asked how his team can remedy the shooting problems, perhaps shooting more in practice, Huber said that idea comes up short.

“Shooters are made in the off-season,” Huber said. “So, I’m not sure if there is an easy fix. It might be confidence, some of it is confidence, I think. The girls have to stop feeling sorry for themselves. We have to figure out a different way. Got to work harder.”

Mason City Newman 50, West Fork 33

Mason City Newman (3-3, 3-1)– Lily Castle 3-14 2-2 9, Hailey Worman 2-5 0-1 4, Faith Wadle 0-3 1-2 1, Maree Scholl 0-1 0-0 0, Molly McGuire 2-6 0-0 5, Ellie Determan 0-0 0-0 0, Madi Elwood 0-0 0-0 0, Kailah Thompson 2-6 0-0 6, Elyse Ball 0-0 0-0 0, Kealan Curley 7-15 3-4 20, Emma Weiner 1-7 0-1 3, Baileigh Berding 0-0 0-0 0, Lauren Andrews 0-4 0-0 0, Angela Schutt 1-2 0-1 2, Emily Opstvedt 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 18-62 6-11 50.

West Fork (2-4, 2-1) –Mycah Weaver 0-0 0-0 0, Makenzie Fessler 2-15 1-4 6, Sydney Nuehring 0-0 0-0 0, Maddie Hubka 2-6 0-0 5, Rylie Akins 0-1 0-0 0, Ellie Weaver 0-2 0-2 0, Madisyn Bonner 1-5 1-2 3, Jen Ingham 0-0 0-0 0, Sadie Latham 1-1 0-0 2, Keelee Sheriff 0-1 0-0 0, Haley Grady 0-0 0-0 0, Emma Martinek 2-8 0-1 4, Kallli Trewin 0-0 0-0 0, Emily Caspers 6-13 1-3 13, Rose Rother 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 14-52 3-12 33.

Newman      8   16   10   16      -   50

W. Fork      10   10     5     8      -   33

Three-point goals– MCN 8-29 (Curley 3-4, Thompson 2-6, McGuire 1-4, Weiner 1-4, Castle 1-6, Worman 0-1, Scholl 0-1, Schutt 0-1); WF 2-12 (Hubka 1-4, Fessler 1-5, Akins 0-1, E. Weaver 0-1, Martinek 0-1). Rebounds– MCN 48, 19 off., 29 def. (Wadle 10, Curley 10, Thompson 6, Worman 5, Team 4, Castle 3, McGuire 3, Weiner 3, Andrews 2, Schutt 2); WF 35, 11 off., 24 def. (Caspers 9, Fessler 7, Martinek 7, E. Weaver 3, Hubka 2, Akins 2, Sheriff 2, M. Weaver, Nuehring, Bonner). Assists– MCN 14 (Thompson 3, Curley 3, Weiner 3, Andrews 2, Castle, Wadle, McGuire); WF 11 (Hubka 4, E. Weaver 4, Bonner 2, Grady). Steals– MCN 23, (Weiner 5, Castle 4, McGuire 3, Thompson 3, Worman 2, Andrews 2); WF 12 (Fessler 6, Hubka 5, Bonner). Blocks– MCN 2 (Wadle, Schutt); WF 1 (E. Weaver). Total fouls– MCN 16, WF 16. Fouled out – MCN, None; WF, None.