Koang leads Packer girls past Falcons
Published 12:09 am Wednesday, December 3, 2014
Austin’s Alex Hansen pulls up for a jump shot against Faribault in Ove Berven Gym Tuesday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Austin sophomore Ruth Koang had a breakout performance as the Packer girls basketball team rolled past Faribault 65-49 in its season opener in Ove Berven Gym Tuesday.
Koang came into the game a little on edge, but when she blocked a Faribault 3-pointer, recovered it and took it coast-to-coast for a lay-up in the first half, Koang had the crowd on its feet and she was in her comfort zone. The 6-3 sophomore finished with 21 points and seven rebounds.
Austin’s Ruth Koang controls the ball in the paint in Ove Berven Gym Tuesday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
“The first couple of minutes were definitely nerve racking,” Koang said. “That block got me pumped up.”
Austin head coach Todd Johnson said that Koang will be featured a lot this season and she made her presence felt on Tuesday as she played strong defense in the lane and made some big plays in the paint on offense.
“Ruth needs to touch the ball,” Johnson said. “She’s tall, she’s got talent and skill and if they double team her hopefully one of the kids can hit a three. I thought we did that pretty well tonight.”
Austin (1-0 overall, 1-0 Big Nine) opened up a 37-19 lead early in the first half after Shayley Vesel, who scored 15 points, converted a 4-point play, but the Falcons (0-1 overall, 0-1 Big Nine) clawed to within 48-37.
The Packers had an answer as Vesel hit another 3-pointer with 7:40 left in the game to ignite an 8-0 run that was capped by a Sydney Murphy 3-pointer from the corner.
“They came at us, we called a timeout and I thought the girls responded really well after the timeout. They went out there and took control of the game again,” Johnson said. “For the most part I was happy with how the kids played. We had spurts where we didn’t take care of the basketball, but overall I was pretty pleased. Faribault was better than I expected them to be and I thought they played well.”
Austin helped its cause by going 19-for-22 on free throws. Vesel went 7-for-7 from the charity stripe and Awenia Nywesh, who had five points and seven rebounds, went 3-for-4.
“We shot free throws very well,” Johnson said. “That’s probably the best free throw night we’ve had since I’ve been here.”
Faribault 19 30 — 49
Austin 33 32 — 65
Austin scoring: Ruth Koang, 21; Shayley Vesel, 15; Alex Hansen, 11; Sydney Murphy, 9; Awenia Nywesh, 5; Amber Hansen, 4; free throws: 86 percent (19-for-22); rebounds: 32 (Nywesh, 7; Koang, 7); turnovers: 18
