McGregor, Staudt net 40 in road victory

GIRLS BASKETBALL: RRMR 49, C-G 32

McGregor, Staudt net 40 in road victory

Rockford collects 17-point win at Clarion-Goldfield

Correspondent

A pair of 20-point performances from juniors Madison McGregor and Emma Staudt propelled the Lady Warriors to a resounding 49-32 road victory against the Clarion-Goldfield on Saturday evening.

Staudt and McGregor gave Rockford a spark early on, providing nine points between the two of them in the first quarter, on the way to an early 11-8 lead at the first intermission. Staudt knocked down a three to open the second period, followed by a quick two points from McGregor to put Rockford up 16-8.

The Lady Warriors held a six-point lead with about a minute to go in the half, but a late run sparked by Maddie Disney and Hannah TerHark of Clarion-Goldfield gave the Cowgirls a narrow 23-22 lead at the half.

The Lady Warriors quickly regained the lead in the second half off a 3-point field goal from Staudt, which put Rockford up 25-23. McGregor then added to the lead with a pair of quick layups and a made free throw midway through the third quarter to make the score 30-25 in favor of the Warriors.

ROCKFORD

The lead continued to swell as another Staudt 3-pointer as well as a layup from McGregor put Rockford up by 10 points. A pair of made free throws from junior Alyssa Staudt gave the Warriors a 12-point advantage near the end of the third, but a late Cowgirl three-point basket reduced the margin to nine heading into the final quarter.

The Lady Warriors firmly seized control down the stretch, aided strongly by Staudt, who scored seven points in the period and made five out of seven attempts at the free-throw line to help put the Cowgirls away. The Warriors made six out of eight free throws in total in the fourth quarter on their way to a convincing 17-point victory. The win puts the Warriors at 5-2 overall on the year.

“The key to the win was our defense in the second half,” said head coach Blake Hansen. “Our intensity was much better than in the first half and our free throws really helped put it away. We haven’t shot free throws that well in years.”

Although McGregor and Staudt dominated the scoring, Hansen most praised the players that helped set up their many scoring opportunities.

“It won’t show up in the stat sheet, but Fallon Marth did an excellent job setting up screens. She set a lot of screens that got us some open looks,” Hansen said, going on to also commend the play of junior guards Alyssa Staudt and Theresa Jones.

UP NEXT

The Warriors take the court next on the road Tuesday night against conference rival St. Ansgar, who is coming off a 53-34 home loss to North Union.

By Andy Larson