MMCRU was able to defeat Hartley-Melvin-Sanborn for the second time this season. The Royals used a balanced attack to come away with a 63-41 win January 24 at Hartley.
“We led the first quarter and came out ready to compete,” said Hawk head coach Jenni Van Otterloo. “We tried a new defense to shut down Kora Alesch since she scored 34 points on us last time. Emily Mutumbo, Gracie Knobloch and Lindsey Van Es did a great job defensively making her uncomfortable and having to work for her points. She only scored 15 points on us this time, which for an athlete like her, is bound to happen. Unfortunately, they came out in the second half and scored a few threes to increase their lead, making it difficult for us to inch our way back into the game. Abby Douma and Moriah Otto each scored 13 points with six and eight rebounds respectively. Most of their points came in the first half, and they adjusted with tough post defense in the second half, making us score from the outside, which we struggled to do. The girls battled and fought the whole game though, so I’m proud of their efforts.”
Rounding out the HMS scoring were Kylee Schiphoff with eight points, Mutombo with four and Knobloch, who had the only trey, with three. Schiphoff supplied a pair of assists. Mutombo and Elise Haack each grabbed four rebounds.
HMS went 14-for-49 from the field to shoot 29 percent. The Royals finished at 44 percent with 24 baskets in 54 attempts. They were 6-of-17 from three-point range and 9-of-15 at the foul line. The Hawks sank 12 of their 19 free throw tries.
The turnover totals showed HMS with 19 and MMCRU with 16. Mutombo, Schiphoff, Otto and Frankie Mohni each notched one steal. There were five blocked shots for HMS. Schiphoff had two of them while Haack, Douma and Otto each had one.
MMCRU 12 17 17 17 – 63
HMS 13 11 10 7 – 41