WORTHINGTON -- Still wary of a Worthington High School girls basketball program that had given Windom fits over the years, Eagles head coach Jacob Johnson formulated a plan Saturday night he hoped would neutralize the Trojans’ height advantage.
The goal, he said, was to “take away the inside game, try to force turnovers before half-court.”
It worked well enough to help Windom Area to an 82-68 win at the Worthington High School gymnasium. Of course, it didn’t hurt matters that three top Worthington players -- Ellie Weg, Madison Beckmann and Karissa Bickett -- were sidelined for injuries. Historically, the Eagles don’t beat the Trojans often.
“I was happy with the way we played. Worthington’s traditionally been a team that’s had our number. Some of their girls are hurt, but Coach (Jessica) Hogan does a real good job with them. They gave us everything we could handle tonight. I’m happy with the way we were able to speed up the game with our pressure,” Johnson said.
Windom Area began to open up a lead late in the first half aided by 3-point shots. Freshman guard Alivia Letcher drained a 3-pointer with 4:07 to go for a 35-28 WAHS advantage, then hit another one at 3:18 for 39-28. Teammate Hannah Dauer hit another 3 at 2:43 and it was 44-32. Dauer hit yet another one at 1:41 to make the score 47-32.
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In all, the Eagles converted 13 3-point shots in the game compared to Worthington’s six.
They also got very balanced scoring. Freshman Haidyn Sammons scored 17 points, Letcher scored 17, sophomore Hadley Sammons tallied 16, sophomore Dauer 15 and freshman Anja Nielsen 15.
With this many fine-shooting underclassmen, the Eagles figure to be dangerous for a few more years. With the win, they improved their 2022-23 record to 11-8 while dropping Worthington to 4-15.
Saturday’s game was a winter-storm make-up, and the Trojans performed better than they did just one night earlier in an 88-38 loss to New Ulm. They got a solid all-around game from 5-11 senior Tarren Spartz, who finished with 20 points, seven rebounds and five assists. Another of the Trojans’ inside threats, 6-0 junior Janessa Hamann, also played a strong inside game with 20 points and nine rebounds.
Spartz worried Johnson, said the WAHS mentor.
“No Weg, but Spartz has been a thorn in our side for four years,” he said.
Windom Area led 48-32 at halftime, but the Trojans fought hard to trim the deficit. With 10:43 to go in the game, Pham Gora converted a 3-point shot that brought the Trojans within 55-46. But from there, the Eagles reasserted control.
“They’re a hard team to stop in transition,” said Hogan, who praised her squad for “doing some good things inside” and for occasionally breaking through the quicker Eagles’ defensive pressure.
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Windom Area 48 82
Worthington 32 68
WINDOM AREA (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- Haidyn Sammons 1-5-4-17, Hadley Sammons 0-7-2-16, Maras 0-1-0-2, Dauer 2-3-3-15, Nielsen 4-0-0-12, Letcher 5-2-0-17, Berduo 1-0-0-3. Totals 13-18-9-82.
WORTHINGTON (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) -- J.Spartz 0-1-0-2, N.Gora 0-2-0-4, T.Spartz 2-6-2-20, P.Gora 3-2-0-13, Hamann 0-9-2-20, Barber 1-0-2-5, Zeidi 0-2-0-4. Totals 6-22-6-68.
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