Gehlen Catholic basketball traveled to Paullina last night for their first meetings of the season with South O’Brien.
The Gehlen girls kept their winning ways rolling with a convincing 60-32 win over the Wolverines to open the evening.
Gehlen has now won five of their last six games with the win over South O’Brien. Head Coach Brandon Schaecher says that his team is gelling at the right time.
The win over South O’Brien was highlighted by some stout defense by Gehlen Catholic. The Jays were in passing lanes many times and held South O’Brien to just 32 points in the win. Coach Schaecher says that the Jays got a renewed sense of effort following their halftime break.
The Jays now have three games left to go, and this upcoming week proves to be a challenge. The Jays will matchup with Hinton in Hinton on Tuesday, and #6 MMCRU on Friday in Marcus. This week will give Coach Schaecher and the Jays a good idea of where they sit heading into regional play.
Lauren Heying led the Gehlen offensive attack with 18 points. Alyssa Kolbeck and Miyah Whitehead finished in double-figures scoring with 13 and 10 points respectively. The Jays are now 8-10 overall and 5-4 in the War Eagle Conference.
The Gehlen boys could not finish off a sweep falling behind early and dropping the contest with South O’Brien 60-44.
South O’Brien sported a 6’7 post player by the name of Jake Wallin who gave Gehlen Catholic fits. Gehlen was not able to establish a presence down low against him early due to him blocking shots and dominating the glass. Gehlen head coach Mike Langel says that his team needs to find a way to be tough against a team that can be physical.
One of the other problems for Gehlen lately has been their ability to hit shots. The Jays were getting great looks all night but couldn’t consistently hit them going 14-46 from the field. Coach Langel says that his team is going through the motions correctly but needs to get their minds right to be successful offensively.
The Jays were led by a 14-point performance by Keaten Bonderson in the loss. The Jays fall to 12-5 overall and 7-2 in the War Eagle Conference with the loss.
