The 2021-2022 JV girls basketball team finished up the Christmas break with a record of 5-2 including a busy schedule prior to the break. The JV team girls BB team played at Clear Lake December 14th winning 32-21. This was a very good win for the girls as Clear Lake is traditionally a very good basketball program. The game was a defensive struggle in the first half with both teams playing defense full court. Ultimately, I think our bench depth sort of wore them down and we were able to take the lead in the 4th quarter with some good free throw shooting down the stretch along with our solid defense. Again our team defense was huge for us in this game. It was a good team win for this group. Scoring: Ellie Ennis 10, Indy Johnson 7, Emma State 6, Payton DeCoster 6, Kennedy Trca 2 and Kennedy Jackson 2 points. Next the JV girls played at home on December 16th against Belmond-Klemme winning 33-29. This also was a very close game throughout with both teams trading leads. I was proud of the way the girls executed some out of bounds plays and our half-court offense in this game. Over-all it was a good contribution from everyone on the team with 9 different girls scoring. Aysa Lyons made some key free throws late in the game. Sydney Friesleben also make a couple of key defensive plays. Ennis, Trca and Emma State all rebounded much better in this game. Our full court press was difference as well with Jackson, DeCoster and Johnson working hard on the front end of the press. Askelsen is showing improvement on the offensive end as well. Scoring: Kennedy Trac 6, Indy Johnson 6, Ellie Ennis 5, Emma State 4, Sydney Friesleben 3, Payton DeCoster 3, Kennedy Jackson 2, Ady Askelsen 2 points and Aysa Lyons 2 points. The girls then played at home against Iowa Falls-Alden losing 24-36 on December 17th. This was a back to back game for us and we just didn’t out with the same energy in this game as we normally do. Iowa Falls caught fire from the 3 point line and that was the difference hitting 8 three point shots. Our 3-2 zone was effective early keeping those 3-point shots minimal but eventually they started falling for IFA. We were a bit sluggish with our offensive continuity in the first half but found some momentum in the 2nd half. The girls continued to work hard throughout the game and that’s all I can ask. We were 9 for 18 from the free throw line so a little better FT shooting would make this game a little closer along with reducing turnovers. Scoring: Payton DeCoster 4, Sydney Friesleben 4, Aysa Lyons 4, Indy Johnson 3, Ady Askelsen 3, Ellie Ennis 3, Emma State 2, and Jordace Duncalf 1 point. The JV girls finished up their schedule before the Christmas break playing at Algona losing 17-44. This certainly wasn’t one of our better games but definitely an opportunity to work on a few things in this game over the Christmas break. We didn’t have our normal defensive energy in this game. We were missing Payton DeCoster in this game and she is our defensive floor leader and that was very evident. It was however an opportunity for other girls to step up, be MORE vocal and play hard by example. This was a learning experience game for us and we will improve from it. Scoring: Ellie Ennis 6, Kennedy Trac 5, Emma State 2, Kennedy Jackson 2 and Ady Askelsen with 2 points. Next action for the CGD JV girls will be Friday January 7th at home with H-D. CGD Assistant Coach / JV: Gary Anderson
