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No. 7 Regina closes out girls’ season
by Norv and Mary Coblentz · Sports · February 22, 2018
The West Branch Bears had foul trouble and a low-scoring second quarter in their 58-50 post-season loss to No. 7 Regina at Regina Feb. 16. But the Bears battled back, pulling to within four points late in the game.
“The biggest thing I’m proud of is how hard we fought,” West Branch Head Coach Jarod Tylee said. “We’ve got good leaders on our team, but at the same time, we’ve got freshmen out there that are playing that are just fighting. Sasha Koenig worked her tail off tonight at both ends of the floor. I’m all-around proud of my team’s effort. We just came up a little bit short.
“(Tatum Koenig) is the best player in the conference. We have the best 2A/3A conference in the state, and she’s the best player in the conference. She proves it night-in and night-out. She’s just phenomenal. She’s helped turn our program to where it is today. We’re hopefully winning 15-plus games a year, and she’s been a huge part of (getting) our program (to this point).
“I just told her in the locker room she’s made girls who were okay with playing basketball, she’s turned them into loving the game of basketball.”
The Bears gave Regina all the could handle late in the game, and it wasn’t what the Regals were expecting.
“That was a battle,” Regina Head Coach Jeff Wallace said. “West Branch just fought their tails off. They were tremendous. They came ready to play. Tatum Koenig was tremendous, and her supporting cast didn’t want to see her stop playing.”
The Bears’ biggest foul problem happened when senior T. Koenig picked up her fourth foul at the 3:44 mark in the third quarter. She sat out the rest of the third quarter and was in and out of the game for the first part of the fourth quarter. The loss to the Regals ended T. Koenig’s high school basketball career.
“It’s extremely tough (to know that it’s over),” T. Koenig said. “High school basketball (has been) my life. I’m going to miss more the players, the people I was playing with.”
T. Koenig spoke about the Bears’ comeback effort against a team that had earlier this season held the Bears to 36 and 38 points. “That just shows how tough each and every one of those players out there was, to not mentally lose it, to know that we can come back.
“I couldn’t be any more proud of (S. Koeing, her sister). She really stepped up tonight.
“It was pretty frustrating (playing the fourth quarter with four fouls), but in a game like this, I can’t let that get to me. I’ve got to come back up, play strong, but don’t foul.”
Abbey Fryauf’s opening tip went to T. Koenig, but the Bears turned the ball over, and the Regals made the first basket. Regina got a defensive rebound and scored again. T. Koenig drove to the basket for the Bears’ first points of the game. Regina got three offensive boards before scoring again. T. Koenig made a jump shot for a 6-4 Regina lead. After two offensive rebounds by Regina, the Bears fouled, then a jump ball went Regina’s way. The Regals made a three-point basket to take a 9-4 lead.
Fryauf scored, assist S. Koenig, then Regina got a putback basket. Each team had a turnover, then Regina got another second-chance basket. T. Koenig made a three-pointer, and Regina answered with a trey. Again, T. Koenig made a three-point basket, and again Regina answered with the same for a 19-12 score. Regina got a steal and an offensive rebound, then Bridget Buol got a defensive board. The Bears turned the ball over then got possession after a jump ball was called. Each team turned the ball over. The score after one quarter’s play was 19-12.
Regina started the second quarter with possession of the ball, and they scored a quick three-pointer. The Regals got a defensive rebound and made another three-point basket for a 25-12 score. The Bears took a time out. A turnover by the Bears and a traditional three-point play by Regina made it 28-12. Each team got a steal, then Regina got a defensive rebound and traveled. The Regals got another defensive board, got an offensive rebound, and scored again, taking a 30-12 lead. Each team came up empty twice on a trip to their basket, then S. Koenig got a defensive rebound, and T. Koenig scored with a baseline jumper, scoring the Bears’ first points of the quarter more than halfway through it.
Each team turned the ball over, then Taya Young got a defensive rebound and went the length of the court and scored. Regina completed a three-point play. T. Koenig made a three-point basket, assist S. Koenig, with 22 seconds left in the half. Regina turned the ball over, but the West Branch buzzer shot was blocked. Halftime score was 33-19.
In the first half, the difference in rebounding hurt the Bears. “That was the difference in the game,” Tylee said. “They had 24 rebounds to seven for us. That was kind of the difference when they made that run. If we can keep them from making that run, it might have been closer at halftime, and we don’t have to climb back so much and use so much energy.”
But the Bears were in a hole, and they did fight back. In the third quarter, the first seven points belonged to West Branch. T. Koenig scored with a pull-up jumper after a steal by Young. Regina fouled, and Young made a three-pointer, assist S. Koenig. Young got another steal, and T. Koenig was fouled on a putback try. She made both free throws, pulling the Bears to with seven points at 33-26. Regina made a basket, then each team turned the ball over twice. T. Koenig picked up her fourth foul and took a seat. S. Koenig got a steal and a layup for a 35-28 score. Regina was fouled and made both free throws. Young made a three-point basket, assist Taylor Thein, and the Bears were within six points.
Regina scored after a West Branch turnover. The Bears turned the ball over again, and Regina scored again for a 41-31 score. Regina was fouled on a shot and made both free throws. Thein hit a three-pointer, assist S. Koenig. The score after three quarters was 43-34.
The Regals scored the first five points of the fourth quarter on a basket, a layup, and a free throw. T. Koenig drove to the basket and scored for a 48-36 score. S. Koenig got a defensive rebound and drove to the basket to score. A steal and layup by S. Koenig brought the score to 48-40. Regina was fouled and missed the front end of a one-and-one. T. Koenig got the rebound, but Regina got a defensive rebound and scored, stretching their lead to 10. S. Koenig made a putback basket. Young got a steal, and S. Koenig made a long three-point basket for a 50-45 score. Regina scored in the paint, then T. Koenig made a quick three-pointer, assist S. Koenig. The score was 52-48.
After a West Branch time out, the Bears fouled, and Regina made both free throws with less than a minute left in the game. S. Koenig drove to the basket and scored. The Bears fouled two more times, but the Regals made all four free throws to seal the win. The final score was 58-50.
“I was really proud of our kids and how they just battled and played and fought through a lot of adversity tonight,” Wallace said. “We had a good lead in the first half, and West Branch just wouldn’t go away.”
1 2 3 4 T
WB 12 7 15 16 50
Reg 19 14 10 15 58
West Branch stats: Abbey Fryauf 1 0-0 2, 3 rebounds, 1 assist; Kaija Luneckas 1 rebound; Tatum Koenig 9 2-2 24, 4 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 1 steal; Bridget Buol 1 rebound; Taylor Thein 1 0-0 3, 1 3-pointer, 1 rebound, 1 assist; Taya Young 3 0-0 8, 2 3-pointers, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 3 steals; Sasha Koenig 6 0-0 13, 1 3-pointer, 5 rebounds, 6 assists, 2 steals
Regina stats: Mary Crompton 4 6-6 16, 2 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 2 steals; Alexa Lehman 1 rebound; Lauren Gaarde 4 rebounds, 3 assists, 2 steals; Greyson Dumont 3 1-1 8, 1 3-pointer, 6 rebounds, 4 assists, 4 steals; Kennedy Wallace 3 0-0 8, 2 3-pointers, 4 rebounds, 1 assist; Alex Wiese 10 6-7 26, 13 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals; Elly Gahan 4 rebounds; Katie Dunn 1 rebound
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