WORTHINGTON -- It’s quite a rare thing for one high school varsity basketball team to outscore another team 30-0 at the start of a game. And that’s exactly what the Worthington Trojans did to the Pipestone Area Arrows Friday night.
Senior Olivia Hayenga, who finished with 38 points before she was pulled from the floor late in the second half, scored 24 of those first 30 on layups, 3-pointers, 2-pointers and free throws. It wasn’t until 6:28 remained in the first half before the Arrows got off the goose egg with a two-point field goal from Aubrea Kor.
The win improved Worthington to 8-5 on the season while it dropped Pipestone Area to 5-9. And though the Trojan girls and their head coach Eric Lindner appreciated the ease in which they put distance on their rivals, they also thought it to be at least a little bit strange.
“They were like, stuck in the middle,” Hayenga described the Pipestone Area defense. “And I felt like everybody was open everywhere they were.”
She liked it, of course.
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“It’s fun having a game like that. We didn’t have a super second half, but that might have been expected, maybe. The first half I was hoping we could skunk ‘em,” Hayenga said.
Of course, that didn’t happen. I fact, once the Arrows discovered where the basket was, they went on a run of their own before halftime. Kor, a 5-8 junior guard, scored 10 straight points, including a pair of 3-point shots, and Worthington’s lead was cut to 30-10.
After trailing 35-14 at intermission, Pipestone Area made some inroads in the second half, too, becoming more aggressive on offense against a Worthington defense that had begun to get complacent. Kayla Hubbling drained two 3-point shots that put PA only 17 points down, at 43-26. Teammate Marli Taubert also hit two 3-pointers, and that made the score 45-32. With 5:20 to go, Pipestone was still within striking distance, down 51-37.
Hayenga finished with eight steals to add to her 38 points -- which is two more points than her previous single-game high. Ellie Weg and Dasia Potter scored eight points each. Weg was outstanding around the basket, with 18 rebounds. Tarren Spartz had eight rebounds and Brooklyn Scheitel-Taylor had eight assists.
Kor led Pipestone Area with 17 points. Hubbling had 10.
“Tempo. We started the way we wanted to. Executed. Got complacent,” was the way Lindner summed up the contest.
Through much of the first half, the Trojans guarded the Arrows on the full court. After they secured their huge lead, they relaxed somewhat.
“We got some nice passes, got some nice steals. Once we backed off the pressure, things changed. Once you do that, you lose your focus. You just fizzle,” he said.
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Hayenga was told by a reporter, tongue in cheek, that her coach could have been nice and let her score her 40th before she was taken out.
She smiled. “That was kind of my fault for missing that bunny at the end. That’s when I knew my chances were over,” she said.
She didn’t miss many others.
Pipestone Area 14 43
Worthington 35 63
PIPESTONE AREA (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Wiese 0-0-0-0, Taubert 2-1-1-9, A.Kor 3-3-2-17, Ka.Hubbling 2-2-0-10, Ky.Hubbling 1-1-0-5, J.Kor 0-0-0-0. Totals 8-7-5-43.
WORTHINGTON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Scheitel-Taylor 0-2-0-4, Beckmann 0-0-1-1, Hayenga 6-9-2-38, T.Spartz 0-2-0-4, Weg 0-3-2-8, Potter 2-1-0-8. Totals 8-17-5-63.
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