West girls cruise to win
BJ Fictum
sports@hastingstribune.com
 BJ Fictum/Tribune
Molly Hinrichs (10) of Sandy Creek dribbles around East defender Jordan Schaardt (right) of Humboldt-Table Rock-Steinauer in second-quarter action Saturday during the 20th annual Southeast Nebraska All-Star Girls Basketball Classic in Beatrice. |
BEATRICE — Height and determination translated into might Saturday night as the West demolished the East 85-31 in the 2008 Southeast Nebraska All-Star Girls Basketball Classic at Southeast Community College’s Truman Center.
Half of the West team consisted of four-year Tribland standouts Molly Hinrichs (Sandy Creek), Courtney Stone (Sutton), Stephanie George (Sutton), Deidre Schendt (Lawrence-Nelson), Kim Sladek (Exeter-Milligan) and Elizabeth Lipker (Blue Hill) while others came from powerhouses and state qualifiers like Meridian, Beatrice, Crete, Fairbury and Heartland.
That fact alone gave West head coach Eric Wetjen of Heartland and assistant Andy Gerlecz from Sutton plenty of reason to expect a victory, but an unexpectedly successful start to the game bolstered the team’s confidence.
“We started off the game by coming down, ripping off some shots right away and that was real big in a hurry for us,” Wetjen said. “I knew going into the game that we had a mismatch as far as size that would be a problem for the East. Fortunately, our girls seemed to match their quickness and that caused them more problems than we figured.”
The East didn’t score its first points until 4:43 remained in the first quarter. By that time, Lipker, Heartland’s MacKenzie Dick, Kilee Edson of Fairbury and Sladek had pushed the team up 8-0.
To read more, see Monday's Hastings Tribune or the Tribune's e-edition.
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