Hawks’ Bunkers spoils conference opener for South O’Brien girls
South O’Brien got into War Eagle Conference play December 13 with a trip to Remsen to face the St. Mary’s Hawks. The Wolverines did not have an answer for Hallie Bunkers who led St. Mary’s to a 45-39 victory. The loss dropped South O’Brien to 2-4 on the season.
“We spent a lot of time at practice talking about stopping Bunkers but we struggled to do so in the game,” commented Wolverine head coach DJ Hansen. “She is a heck of player. She goes hard. She got loose in the lane a lot and we were a step behind and fouled her a bunch as well. She ended with 25 and Tessa (Tentinger) got 12. They only had four kids score. So only eight points outside of those two, although (Grace) Galles got a bunch of boards for them.”
In contrast to Bunkers’ play, Hansen felt his team played passively on the offensive end. “We let their athleticism stun us bit,” said the coach. “Then we calmed down but settled for too many bad shots. It’s something we have been working on and I think we will get there. We had a long dry spell in the end of the third and beginning of the fourth. It felt like we were stuck on 25 for about five minutes and after that we tried really hard to battle back but RSM finished the game well.”
Reese Farquhar led South O’Brien with 15 points and nine boards. She also notched three assists and two steals. Abby Nelson contributed eight points, five steals and four assists. Chloe Hustedt scored six points and grabbed six rebounds. Lindsey Einck finished with five points and three boards. Addison Hedberg scored three points and Abby Woodall two, with Woodall grabbing three rebounds.
The Wolverines shot 27 percent (12-of-45) from the floor. They sank 12 of their 18 free throw attempts but were just 3-of-16 from beyond the three-point line. South O’Brien was guilty of 14 turnovers.
S. O’Brien 11 6 8 14 – 39
St. Mary’s 15 8 13 9 – 45