Photo: Craig Johnson
(KWMN)- The Winhawk Girls basketball team made a second half run to cut a La Crosse Central lead to 11 but were held scoreless in the final seven minutes of the contest to fall to 0-4, losing last night 63-31.
With just over seven minutes to play, the Winhawk girls cut a 20-point lead to just 11, thanks a 9-0 run. It was their best stretch of the game. Head Coach for the Winhawks, Tim Gleason, called a timeout and urged his team to bring it to within five points before the four-minute mark.
Instead, Central answered with a staggering 21-0 run to close out the game and went on for an easy victory.
It’s been a difficult start to the season for the Winhawk girls, but one that might not come as a surprise. Winona lost their entire starting five from last season. Losing Mackenzie Simmons, Marin Keller, and Faith Quinn to graduation, while Lex Vessel and star freshman Alivia Bell both transferred.
For Bell, her family opted to move toward the cities, hoping to provide a better opportunity for Bell to achieve her hoop dreams. Bell is now stationed at Hopkins High School, where she’s the starting point guard on the #1 team in 4A. The same high school that UConn star Paige Bueckers attended.
That leaves the Winhwak girls’ program with a roster that possesses minimal experience. Gleason says that it’s thrusted players who expected their role to be limited, into roles that are integral to the team, while admitting that it will be a slow, sometimes frustrating process before the team is ready to compete.
Even so, as early as it is, you can see the potential within the young squad. Competing for 29 minutes of the game is a positive note. There were moments where the ball was moved like a team that’s been playing at the varsity level for years. The shots didn’t always fall, but the glimpses are clear.
“We had good looks. And I won’t fault our effort…I think there are things we can take from that,” Gleason said. “I told our girls; we’re not going to ruminate on what the score was…We’ll keep building, it’s a long season, it’s a marathon. If we can improve as much as we did in these first four games, the next four, it’s going to be fun.”
Gleason often mentioned the process, before and after the game. That’s what this season is all about. Not to go full-blown Philadelphia 76ers, but the process will be important, and progress within it. Gleason said he told the team after the game to keep their heads up. There was an opportunity to win that game late, it just didn’t fall their way.
“It happened; we’re not going to wear it. We’ll come back tomorrow, we’ll keep working,” he said.
The Winhawks will be back on the hardwood come Friday night when they travel to face Albert Lea, a team they’ve had great success with over the last decade, providing an opportunity to find that first win.
Other Area Scores
Girls Basketball
Cotter 60-30 Fillmore Central
Boys Basketball
Cotter 59-38 Fillmore Central
Rushford-Peterson 71-28 Hayfield
Winona 37-85 Onalaska
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