Rebel girls fall to PEM
Published 11:09 pm Thursday, February 5, 2015
Southland’s McKenzie Kirtz looks to drive past PEM’s Mackenzie Shindelar in Adams Thursday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
ADAMS —The Southland girls basketball team played its second ranked Class AA team in three days and the results where not what they had hoped for.
Southland’s Kaysie Allen saves a loose ball in a 61-37 loss to PEM in Adams Thursday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
After hanging with top-ranked Dover-Eyota well into the second half in what eventually was a lop-sided loss on Tuesday, the Rebels trailed by double digits for much of the night in a 61-37 loss to Plainview-Elgin-Millville (15-4 overall, 11-2 Three Rivers) in Adams Thursday.
The Rebels (13-7 overall, 9-6 Three Rivers) pulled to within 39-29 when Kaitlyn Kirtz connected on a 3-pointer, but the Bulldogs scored the next 12 points in a row to put the game out of reach.
“I thought we played really against Dover-Eyota [Tuesday]. We were pretty sharp, we played intelligently and we didn’t have any breakdowns,” Southland head coach Russ Foster said. “I thought if we would’ve played that well tonight we would’ve had a good chance of winning and we did not do that at all and I’m a little disappointed in how we played.”
Southland struggled with its transition defense against PEM, it went just 2-for-14 on 3-pointers and it missed a few lay-ups. Foster was hoping for a better all-around effort.
“We had a lot of breakdowns, especially defensively,” Foster said. “We weren’t communicating and we were getting two people on the ball and leaving somebody free. There was too much of that.”
McKenzie Kirtz had 10 points, five assists and three steals for Southland and Sydney Bendtsen scored 10 points.
“Our effort was there,” Foster said. “I thought we played hard. That’s never a question with how hard we play. It’s just sometimes we don’t play the game the way it’s supposed to be played.”
Southland’s Sydney Bendtsen, right, plays pressure defense on Sarah Hart of PEM in Adams Thursday. — Rocky Hulne/sports@austindailyherald.com
Southland will play five of its last six games of the season on the road.
PEM 30 31 — 61
Southland 15 22 — 37
Southland scoring: McKenzie Kirtz, 10; Sydney Bendtsen, 10; Corbyn Bendtsen, 6; Olvia Gray, 4; Kaitlyn Kirtz, 3; McKendry Kennedy, 2; Maggie Vlasaty, 2; field goals: 32 percent (17-for-53); 3-pointers: 14 percent (2-for-14); free throws: 100 percent (1-for-1); rebounds; 18 (Gray, 7); turnovers: 10
