Girls Basketball: Wingers hang on for win

Red Wing senior Marisa Toivonen delivered another double-double for the girls basketball team Friday and the Wingers averted a conference-opening loss to Farmington with a 70-68 victory in Red Wing.

Toivonen scored a team-high 26 points and added 10 rebounds for her fourth double-double in five games.

Tesha Buck added 24 points, eight rebounds and four assists for the Wingers while Macy Kelly scored 14 points and A.J. LaFond had six. Only four players scored for Red Wing in the game and all four started the game.

The Tigers (1-10) returned senior standout Taylor Meyer to the lineup for the first time this season after Meyer sat out the previous 10 games to rehab a torn anterior cruciate ligament. Meyer, who has signed to play for the University of Minnesota, Duluth, gave the Wingers all they could handle at times.

“She was a load for us,” Red Wing head coach Dave Muelken said. “She can make 3s. She’s got really good moves in the post.”

Red Wing maintained a lead in the second half late after ending the first half in a 33-33 tie and Farmington never really threatened in the end. Farmington never got closer than two until the end of the game.

The Tigers hit a shot with less than 15 seconds left to make it a two-point game, but when the Wingers got the ball to inbound they hung on to it as time expired.

The game served as a prelude to the rest of the conference schedule for Muelken and the rest of the team.

“It’s going to be every night in the conference,” Muelken said. “I told the kids that we’re going to have 13 more games like this.”

The win gave Muelken encouragement moving forward.

“It was very encouraging that we were able to hold the lead and make free throws,” he said. “Winning close games in the conference is going to help us a lot in our section.”

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