Catching up with Maquoketa Valley girls’ basketball

DELHI - The Maquoketa Valley girls' basketball team returns from its holiday break to take on North-Linn in Troy Mills tonight.

The Wildcats are 7-1, losing 62-49 on Dec. 9, to No. 1 Springville in a hard-fought battle.

'We got off to a very good start in this game,” Coach Scot Moenck said. 'I was very pleased with our energy in this game. But like every good team does, Springville answered. They're a very good team and you can't miss the shots that we did and make the mistakes that we did and beat teams like Springville.

'We have to be more discipline on defense and more opportunistic on offense. We will get better and it starts with us as coaches.”

Junior Brianna Mensen led the Wildcats with 19 points, followed by Sam Wall with 8 and Megan Mensen with 7. The Wildcats were 6 of 15 from the free throw line for 40 percent. The Mensen sisters were able to pull down a combined 20 rebounds between the two. As a team, the Wildcats collected 34 offensive and defensive rebounds. Erin Digmann had two blocks.

The Wildcats traveled to Bellevue Marquette on Dec. 11 and bounced back in a nail-biter, winning 49-48.

'We knew going into this game it was going to be a very tough environment to play in,” Moenck said. 'Coming off a tough loss on Tuesday I was interested to see how our team would respond. Again, I was very pleased with our effort.

'To be honest that is what won us this game because we were not a disciplined basketball team again tonight on both ends of the floor. I thought Payton Ries and Brianna Mensen had outstanding games for us on both ends of the floor. Payton showed a lot of toughness, which is something we have been lacking for a while.”

Brianna Mensen led the Wildcats with 17 points, followed by Ries with 16. Wall, Digmann, Shawnae Hoeger, Megan Mensen and Kristi Goedken added points for the win. The girls increased their free throw percentage for this game to 63 percent, making 10 of 16. Ries tallied 9 rebounds followed by Megan Mensen with 8, Digmann with 6 and Goedken with 5. The Wildcats' defense collected 25 steals and six blocks.

'Sam Wall hit a shot with just under two seconds on the clock to win the game,” Moenck said. 'For a freshman to step up and take a shot like that says a lot about her. Bellevue Marquette had a shot to win the game at the end but it came up short.

'I really love this team and how much they care and love playing for one another. We just need some things to carry over on game nights.”

The Wildcats also toppled Lisbon, 48-17, on Dec. 15; whipped East Buchanan, 63-14, on Dec. 18; beat Elkader Central, 62-36, on Dec. 21; and ended 2015 with a 61-26 win over Easton Valley.