Throwback Classic at the Pentagon: BV girls fend off Gazelles

Coach Mark Stadem describes the Lady Lynx’s season-opening 41-33 victory over the Yankton Gazelles as your “typical first game.”

Lots of fouls and the pace of the game was too fast at times. And while the Lady Lynx need to shore up a few things on offense, the girls put forth a stellar effort on defense.

“I thought we were outstanding on the defensive end of the floor and pretty solid on the glass,” said Stadem.

Brandon Valley’s pressure defense kept Yankton (1-1) from finding any sort of offensive rhythm, containing the Gazelles to 3-of-13 shooting in the first half, along with forcing a dozen turnovers in the time frame. 

Holding the Gazelles to just four points in the first stanza, Ashley Wells and Trinity Law dropped in back-to-back 3-pointers to kick off their 12-point first quarter.

Continuing with their pressure defense, the Lynx didn’t allow Yankton to score their second basket of the game until 3:43 of the second quarter, and by then, BV had built a 16-7 advantage. Behind a pair of Sam Taylor 3-pointers and contributions from Lauren Wells, BV carried an 11-point lead into the break, 23-12.

While neither team was on fire in the third, Yankton narrowed the gap to nine by the end of the third, 30-21. 

The fourth quarter, however, was a different story. Despite only making one basket in the fourth quarter, Yankton did some damage at the free throw line where they connected on 17-of-23. A pair of free throws from Yankton’s Emily Oswald, who had eight points in the game, dropped a pair of free throws to trim BV’s lead to seven, 36-29, with just over three minutes to play. The Gazelles would get no closer than six, as the Lynx closed out the 41-33 victory.

“Our bench was really good in this game, and it had to be,” said Stadem. Lauren Wells and Sam Taylor both came off the bench and scored 10 and nine points, respectively.

Maddy Hochstein led Yankton with nine points, to go along with five rebounds, while Oswald added eight points and eight rebounds. Payton Wolfgram and Madison Wuebben each had four points.

The Gazelles out-rebounded the Lynx, 35-24. Felicity Klinkhammer had five, while both Lauren and Ashley latched onto four apiece.

BV registered six assists, nine steals (Ashley Wells and Klinkhammer, two apiece), and a trio of blocked shot, two of which were credited to Klinkhammer.

BV committed 11 turnovers in the victory to Yankton’s 19.

Stadem said his team will continue the process of trying to find their roles and how they fit together.

“We need to get better at not fouling quite so much. We are a very aggressive team, but we have to be smart with that and cut down on the silly fouls. We also need to play with more pace on offense. We were too rushed and played too fast,” he said. “But, again, that is part of the process.”

BV won the JV game, 58-27, and the Lynx also won the C-game, 49-29.

Brandon Valley 12 23 30 41

Yankton 4 12 21 33

Lady Lynx (2PFG, 3PFG FT, TP): Felicity Klinkhammer 0-2 0-0 0-0 0; Lexi Ellingson 0-3 0-0 2-2 2; Danica Kocer 1-8 0-3 2-3 4; Ashley Wells 0-3 1-2 2-2 5; Trinity Law 1-3 1-3 2-3 7; Sam Taylor 0-0 2-2 3-4 9; Mara Schaap 0-1 0-0 0-0 0; Marlie Tekrony 1-2 0-0 0-0 2; Lauren Wells 4-9 0-0 2-4 10; Hannah Behrens 0-0 0-0 0-0 0; Jazmyn Larson 0-1 0-1 0-0 0; Hailey Pieper 1-1 0-0 0-0 2. Totals: 8-33 4-11 13-18 41.