By Becky Walz,
The Decorah girls basketball team had a goal of winning the final Northeast Iowa Conference title and did so at Waukon recently and took the opportunity to pose for a photo. (submitted photo)
It’s been a tough road lately for the Decorah girls basketball team (9-10, 5-1 NEIC) who has dropped its last three contests to out of state squads.
Two halves
Traveling to the other side of the Iowa-Minnesota border, the Vikes were on the Spring Grove (18-5) hardwood Thursday, dropping the contest 62-51.
Playing by Minnesota rules of two halves in place of four quarters, Decorah trailed 29-20 at half and couldn’t dig out of the hole as the Lions outscored the Vikes 33-31 in the second half.
Two Vikings hit double digit scoring with Sydney Thompson leading the way with 14 points to go with four rebounds. Renae Wilson put up 12 points and nabbed five boards, while Grace Tangen just missed the double digits with nine points. Liz Bucksa added eight points, six caroms and two steals with Clara Hjelle and Brooklyn Fromm pulling down five boards apiece.
Scoring – Sydney Thompson 14; Renae Wilson 12; Grace Tangen 9; Liz Bucksa 8; Brooklyn Fromm 6; Kelby Kerndt 2
Rebounds – Bucksa 6; Clara Hjelle 5; Wilson 5; Fromm 5; Thompson 4; Kerndt 3; Tangen 3; Natalie Stevens 1; Assists – Hjelle 2; Wilson 2; Bucksa 2; Kerndt 2; Fromm 1; Tangen 1; Steals – Bucksa 2; Kerndt 1; Tangen 1
Scoring woes
Less than 24 hours later the Vikes were back in action at home, hosting Prairie du Chien (19-2) in a make-up game from January. Fatigue may have played a factor in the Decorah’s 59-28 loss to the Blackhawks
The Vikings managed just 11 points in the first half and were left trailing 32-11 at the break and put in another 17 in the second half.
Five players had at least three points with Tangen leading the way with nine along with seven rebounds. Wilson added eight with Thompson putting in five. Bucksa and Natalie Stevens had three each.
Prairie du Chien 18 14 16 11 59
Decorah 8 3 6 11 28
Scoring – Tangen 9; Wilson 8; Thompson 5; Bucksa 3; Stevens 3
Rebounds – Tangen 7; Hjelle 6; Bucksa 3; Fromm 2; Wilson 1; Stevens 1; Kerndt 1; Assists – Bucksa 2; Wilson 1; Kerndt 1; Steals – Bucksa 2; Hjelle 1; Blocks – Wilson 1
Final home game
It came down to the final seconds Tuesday for the Vikes who hosted Lanesboro (15-9) in Decorah’s final regular season game at home.
The Burros kicked off the game with a 13-8 first quarter lead over Decorah. The Vikes edged closer by the half 25-21 but continued to trail 36-30 with one frame remaining. In the final eight minutes, the home team worked its way to within two 44-42 but they had no luck sinking a basket to tie things up in the closing seconds and forced to foul to stop the clock. Lanesboro went to the charity stripe, sinking the two free throws and closing out the game 46-42.
Individual stats were unavailable at press time.
Lanesboro 13 12 11 10 46
Decorah 8 13 9 12 42
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