Girls Basketball: Wingers lack effort in home loss to Shakopee

Senior Marisa Toivonen tallied a double-double for the Red Wing girls basketball team Tuesday against Shakopee but the Wingers lacked enough emotion and energy in a 55-45 loss in Red Wing.

The loss was Red Wing’s seventh in the last nine games.

“Effort and attitude,” Wingers head coach Dave Muelken said of the loss. “I told the girls after the game, ‘we have enough talent to win. We don’t have enough talent to just show up.’ Tonight, we just showed up.”

Toivonen finished with 10 points and 10 rebounds in her final home game. Senior A.J. LaFond added two points, eight assists and three steals.

“(Marisa’s) effort and attitude is always there,” Muelken said. “We got a lot out of those seniors.”

Junior Tesha Buck scored 14 points and had three rebounds for Red Wing (16-9, 6-7 Missota). Buck did not make a 2-point field goal but connected on four 3-pointers. Junior Macy Kelly finished with 17 points and four rebounds.

Rachel Boegeman led Shakopee with 18 points and Taylor Koenen added 16 points. Hanna Zerr contributed 10 points. The Sabers grabbed 16 offensive rebounds in the win.

“That was the difference,” Muelken said of Shakopee’s rebounding edge.

The opening minutes were rough for the Wingers as the Sabers led 9-0 early and Red Wing failed to score for the first 4 minutes, 28 seconds of the game. But Buck, Kelly and Toivonen turned up the intensity and helped the Wingers take a 31-30 lead into halftime.

Shakopee blitzed Red Wing again at the beginning of the second half, going on a 6-0 run and holding the Wingers scoreless for 4:15. Buck made her fourth 3-pointer of the game to pull Red Wing within five points at 39-34 but the Sabers never gave up the lead.

The Wingers showed flashes but overall the offense was inefficient and stagnant. Red Wing shot just 36 percent and committed 17 turnovers. The 6-foot-3 Boegeman, committed to Minnesota State University-Moorhead, wreaked havoc in the interior and was a major reason the Wingers took 18 3-pointers and only got to the free-throw line 10 times.

“Our communication lacked tonight, offense and defense,” Kelly said. “We just needed to see each other more.”

Defensively, the Wingers were caught flat-footed too often and box outs were almost nonexistent.

“We haven’t put together the 36 minutes yet,” Muelken said. “If we get the effort we need, I’ll take our chances.”

While the losses are frustrating, Kelly said the Wingers need to take their focus off winning and put it on having better practices. Red Wing’s final regular season game is against Chanhassen Friday in Chanhassen.

“We just have to worry about getting better and the winning will come,” Kelly said.

Tags: girls basketball, red wing, sports, prep