Ceil McAuly hit three important 3-pointers in the first half during a huge Winnebago Lutheran run.
WLA used that run to spark a 55-50 win against Oakfield in a home nonconference game Monday night.
The Vikings (2-1) went on a 17-0 run over a 7:58 span during the first half after starting flat offensively.
McAuly’s nine first-half points all came from deep with Oakfield struggling to disrupt her quick release. Junior point guard Addyson Suprenand said McAuly’s perimeter game has been important for WLA.
“Ceil is great,” Suprenand said. “She’s always ready to catch and shoot, which is great. She’s got such a quick release and she helps us a lot. She’s another threat on the 3-point line.”
The run turned a 9-2 deficit into a 10-point lead.
McAuly finished with a team-high 15 points in the game, which included 4-for-7 shooting from 3.
Coach Eric Schraufnagel said though McAuly’s shooting was important, she provided more than just scoring.
“I thought she did other things well, too,” Schraufnagel said. “I thought she handled the ball well for us. I thought she played good defense.”
After trailing by as many as 7, WLA took at 6-point lead into halftime.
Schraufnagel said one of his messages to his team at halftime was to start the second half quickly. WLA started the second half with a 17-6 run to extend the lead to 43-26 with 11 minutes left.
“One of the things we talked about at halftime was winning the first four minutes of the second half,” Schraufnagel said. “I was really proud of our girls with how we came out and really won it. That was big to kind of give us a little padding going forward."
Despite being outscored by 10 in the final quarter of the game, Schraufnagel said he was encouraged that his largely inexperienced team is learning how to close games out early in the season.
“You can’t simulate what we had tonight or what we had last week Tuesday against Kiel,” Schraufnagel said. “We have some players, who maybe this is their first varsity experience.
“I think it’s just important to build the confidence that when we get in these situations that we can hit the free throw at the end, we can get that box out, we can swing that ball one more time. I think that just those reps are important in close games.”
The Vikings, who were smaller at nearly every position, battled Oakfield (1-2) on the boards, coming up with just one fewer rebound.
Schraufnagel credited a team effort on the glass, but highlighted junior Jenna Petrowitz’s performance. Petrowitz finished with eight rebounds and four steals despite having to contend with one of the best players in the area in Jorja Hofman.
“I thought Jenna did a great job defensively getting deflections and getting rebounds,” Schraufnagel said. “I just thought Jenna’s energy and how she played, I thought she did a great job.”
Hofman still finished with 24 points and 10 rebounds to lead the Oaks, but had to work exceptionally hard to earn those.
The Vikings also used full-court, pressure defense to force Oakfield in 22 turnovers and numerous wild shots, leading to transition points for WLA.
McAuly said turning defense into offense has been one of WLA’s strengths so far this season.
“When we play good defense, we can definitely get more points in transition,” McAuly said. “We’re definitely a good transition team, we’ve got lots of quick movement and we can get those easy layups.”
Freshman Lola Rich was a key defender off the bench for the Vikings. She did not have a steal, but forced Oakfield into numerous turnovers and sped the Oaks’ guards up.
“It’s great bringing Lola off the bench,” Schraufnagel said. “She just brings a lot of energy, a lot of great defense, she had an and-1 on a really nice play on the baseline. I thought she did a nice job.”
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