Cougars sit at 3-15, will open Regional Tournament play Feb. 13 at Guthrie Center
By Drew Herron - AJ/NT Sports / Jan. 29, 2014
ANITA – Hard as it is to believe, the high school basketball
schedule at Cumberland-Anita-Massena is running on vapors.
Just three games remain before the Cougars girls’ squad
opens up Regional Class 1A Tournament play on Feb. 13 at Guthrie Center, and
the team is facing a crucial stretch leading up to the playoffs.
Tuesday night at home, the Cougars took in another
installment of Rolling Valley Conference basketball, this time against
Exira-EHK, arguably the hottest team in the league.
Despite the loss to the 13-4 Spartans, CAM coach Joe Wollum
saw some bright spots in his team’s 47-31 defeat.
“We shot the ball pretty poorly in the first half, but we
stepped it up in the second and cut into their lead,” coach Wollum says. “I’m
proud of our girls’ effort, they hung around and battled, and made some shots
down the stretch. We need more of that.”
The Spartans led 27-12 at the half, and 36-21 at the end of
three quarters. The lead had ballooned to 20 points and waned to 12 as
Exira-EHK was never able to completely put away a scrappy Cougars’ squad.
Three different Exira-EHK players finished in double
figures, led by Claire Paulsen’s 14 points. Mara Burmeister finished with 13
points and Rachel Smith added 11.
After Claire Paulsen hit three 3-pointers in the opening
half, CAM was committed to keeping a tighter lid on her presence on the wing.
Paulsen finished with five points in the second half, but only one three-ball.
“We really wanted to limit (Paulsen’s) touches, and if they
wanted to go into the post to Rachel Smith, we needed a double-team on that,”
coach Wollum says. “We wanted to keep the ball out of her hands as much as
possible, and try to make someone else beat us besides those two.”
CAM senior Alyssa Kragelund led all scorers with 24 points.
Afterwards, coach Wollum marveled at the senior post’s
ability to get open and use her strength as she continues to develop as a
threat to score from anywhere on the court.
“Alyssa is having a great senior season for us, it’s really
exciting to see how good she is becoming,” coach Wollum says.
Tuesday was Senior Night in Anita, and CAM honored Kragelund
and the team’s other senior, Erin Daugherty.
Before the playoffs arrive, CAM will close out the regular
season with RVC games against Ar-We-Va, Coon Rapids-Bayard and West Harrison.
The clock on the season is ticking, and CAM has its goals laid
out for them as they work to peak in February.
“We need to work on limiting turnovers and finding ways to get to the basket with our offense,” coach Wollum says. “Those are the two biggest things, because our defense has been pretty good when we don’t have mental lapses. But we need to find a way to score, rebound better, and take care of the ball.”
“We need to work on limiting turnovers and finding ways to get to the basket with our offense,” coach Wollum says. “Those are the two biggest things, because our defense has been pretty good when we don’t have mental lapses. But we need to find a way to score, rebound better, and take care of the ball.”
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