Lady Wolves finish second

The Manawa Lady Wolves finished second in the Almond-Bancroft Holiday Tournament. On Tuesday, Dec. 26 they defeated Almond-Bancroft 31-21, but dropped a 33-19 verdict to Stratford the next day.

Playing excellent team basketball the Lady Wolves never allowed the Eagles to have the lead during the final three quarters.

Almond-Bancroft enjoyed leads of 2-0 and 4-2 before senior Kali Draeger tied the game at four and junior Paige Schernecker gave the Lady Wolves their first lead of the night at 6-4 with 1:23 left in the first quarter. Rylee Anderson tied the game at 6 just 12 seconds later to close out the quarter.

Senior Katrina Wilz's basket gave Manawa the lead for good at 8-6. That basket triggered an 8-0 run for the Wolves with Draeger chipping four of her game high 14 points. Almond finished the first half with the final four points but Manawa still held a 14-10 lead at the half.

Frigid shooting from the floor and 14 turnovers resulted in only seven points being scored with the Lady Wolves holding an 18-13 lead.

The Lady Eagles twice pull to within five points at 20-15 and 22-17. Draeger and senior Aimee Drath's steal and lay-in bumped Manawa's lead to 26-17 with 2:54 left to play. The Eagles stormed back as Anderson and Turzinski scored to bring the Eagles within five at 26-21 with 1:18 left. Draeger's two baskets and Drath's free throw sealed the game for the Lady Wolves.

The Lady Wolves managed 14 of 41 shooting from the floor. Drath led the way with five rebounds.

In their lose to the Lady Tigers just the opposite was true as 27 turnovers and only four points combined during the middle two quarters sealed Manawa's fate.

Behind a three pointer and jump shot by Sara Griesbach the Lady Tigers quickly jumped out to a 5-0 lead before Manawa scored the next seven points capped by Drath's three pointer. Unfortunately this was Manawa's only lead of the game.

The Lady Tigers regained the lead with seven unanswered points capped by another three by Griesbach for a 12-7 lead with 1:58 left in the first half. Drath scored a basket with 31 seconds left in the half, ending nearly 13 minutes without scoring a point. Despite the bad quarter, Manawa trailed by only three at halftime.

Sophomore Brooke Schultze opened the second half with eight straight points for the Lady Tigers. Following a time out the Lady Tigers added another three points and held a 23-9 lead with 2:35 left in the third quarter.

The Lady Tigers expanded that lead to 17 points at 30-13 with 3:48 left to play.

Schultz would take game honors with 13 and Stoetz added 10 for the Lady Tigers. Drath led Manawa in points with nine and rebounds with seven.

The Lady Wolves return to conference play on Friday nights, as they host Iola-Scandinavia.