WORTHINGTON -- When Tarren Spartz’s shot with 36 seconds remaining in the game went in and then out, the 5-11 Worthington High School senior looked shocked.
“I was. It would’ve been such a big game-changer, I think,” she said.
If it had counted, Worthington would have had a 52-49 lead over Pipestone Area in Tuesday’s Big South Conference girls basketball game at the WHS gym. But as it was, the Arrows grabbed the miss and Kyla Hubbling drained a 3-point shot on the other for the lead. The Trojans could not come back, falling 55-52.
The Trojan girls haven’t gotten a lot of breaks lately. Recently, they’ve been without three of their top players due to injuries. Without them, they struggled to compete.
But on Tuesday they returned two of them -- 6-1 junior Madison Beckmann and 6-0 senior Ellie Weg. Weg played sparingly, but Beckmann returned from her foot injury to play an outstanding game, finishing with 12 points on four 3-point shots while getting a team-high 11 rebounds. She began the season as one of the Trojans’ primary ball-handlers -- which is a new position for her -- and she is getting much better at it than she was early in the campaign.
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In fact, Tuesday’s game might have been her most impressive ball-handling game of them all. Her determination and her confidence levels were high.
“I think I realized that I had to step up, because we lost two big seniors last year,” Beckmann said after the Pipestone Area game. “I knew I kind of had to take that in my hands. … As the year has progressed, we’re getting better at working together as a team.”
She was told that her improved confidence is obvious.
“It’s confidence, you bet,” she replied. “Last year I was a sophomore and I was a little bit afraid of making a mistake around the big kids. But now I’m one of the big kids, so I’ve gotta have more confidence.”
The Arrows are a good team. They brought a 10-7 record to Worthington on Tuesday, which included a not-so-secret weapon in 6-3 senior forward Arinn McGee, who became a worrisome defensive threat within the first minute of the game. She blocked four shots in the first half as the Arrows moved to a 25-21 halftime lead.
Beckmann hit three 3-point shots in the second half that provided a much-needed offensive spark for Worthington after its offense began to stall. Pipestone took a 49-42 lead with five minutes to play, but the Trojans pulled to within 49-48 at 2:14 on a Spartz shot off a missed attempt. Then at 1:48 Spartz drained two free throws for a 50-49 WHS advantage. Moments later came the Spartz miss on a short jumper that seemed to be more than halfway through the net before it came out again.
Tuesday’s game was a tough one for Worthington’s inside girls, but Spartz finished with 15 points and eight rebounds.
“The whole game I was battling with my shots. They all seemed to go in and out,” Spartz said afterward. “I tried my best working my way around (McGee). But she’s so big.”
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Aubrea Kor led Pipestone Area with 17 points and Jadyn Kor tallied 14. McGee, who drew her fourth foul with 8:49 remaining in the second half, finished with just two points. But her defense was crucial when she was on the court.
The loss dropped Worthington to 4-16 on the season. It’s always hard to lose a close game, but head coach Jessica Hogan said she was proud of the way her kids fought.
“I think we battled really hard. I thought our effort on the defensive end really set the tone for the game,” Hogan said.
Pipestone Area 25 55
Worthington 21 52
PIPESTONE AREA (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Wiese 2-1-2-10, A.Kor 0-5-7-17, Kay.Hubbling 0-0-1-1, Ky.Hubbling 1-1-2-7, J.Kor 0-5-4-14, McGee 0-1-0-2, Tuinstra 0-2-0-4. Totals 3-15-16-55.
WORTHINGTON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Beckmann 4-0-0-12, T.Spartz 0-6-3-15, N.Gora 1-0-0-3, Weg 0-0-0-0, P.Gora 1-0-0-3, Barber 1-1-0-5, Hamann 0-2-4-8, Zeidi 0-2-2-6. Totals 7-11-9-52.
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