Southwest Valley continues improvements, blows past East Union

AFTON – East Union couldn’t get an elusive conference win Thursday night, falling to Southwest Valley 51-37.

The loss for the Eagles brings them to 4-10 (0-7 in POI). Southwest Valley improves to 3-11 (2-6).

From the jump, the Timberwolves put pressure on the Eagles, applying a full-court press on an Eagles team that couldn’t hold on to the ball. Through the first quarter, Southwest Valley led 18-10 with two 3-pointers by Norah Lund helping extend it.

The early turnovers allowing for the opponent to gain and extend a lead has been a common occurrence for the Eagles, said East Union head coach Mike Cooley.

“That’s the way it’s gone for us several times,” said Cooley. “Early turnovers when teams build a lead. ... I can’t say the girls get down or quit trying, but just don’t seem to get things clicking after we make we several turnovers and give them a lead. ... Got to hand it to Southwest Valley, they came out and played their game. (SWV) ran a box-in one on (Kaylin) Lack, to contain her and they did a pretty good job. We didn’t really prepare well enough for that, ... part of that is on me. ”

A pressing Southwest Valley defense was the plan from head coach Mike Cormack. After playing teams who were a collective 42-8 in their last four games, Cormack was hoping the limited success they had in those games with pressure was going to change Thursday.

“We have got better and better throughout the year on having pressure,” said Cormack. “... We believe there’s a stretch of schedule here that finally easies up here a bit, hopefully. We hope playing exceptional teams with pressure will help us the rest of the season. We’re still playing very good teams.”

Both sides traded baskets through the second quarter, but an 8-0 SWV run near the midway point of the second pushed the difference to 21 at 35-14 with still two quarters to play.

At halftime, Cormack said the energy in the locker room was that the Timberwolves wanted more. Exiting the break, Cormack added the team kept up the intensity and stayed hungry by continuing its success through the next 16 minutes.

“What’s incredible about it, is the girls wanted more,” said Cormack. “I had to actually say, with some smiles on their faces, ‘we’re doing quite well.’ Again, it’s a situation we hadn’t really been in. We played really well in the first half, and they felt like they left some things out there. ... We’re starting to turn it around with ‘hey, how can we find a way to win.’ ... We aren’t so supremely talented that we can show up (and win), but we are talented enough with passion and intensity to win games.”

Southwest Valley then put the game to bed with still plenty of time left in the game. Scores from MaKayla Houck, Marah Larsen and Norah Lund were littered through the third and fourth to get SWV near the 50-point mark.

“I don’t know how many threes they made. Seven or eight? When a team is shooting that well, it’s pretty hard to defend everything,” said Cooley on SWV’s scoring ability. The Eagles converted on six from beyond the arc and landed 15 from inside. “... Once you get spread out on the outside, they find their inside people, and we just never could get things going and shut down. Hats off them.”

East Union closed the game on a 14-3 run. Points from Kaylin Lack, Grace Nixon and Karah Kirkland closed out the scoring for the Eagles on Senior Night. Leading for the Eagles in scoring was Lack’s 14 and leading for the Timberwolves was Larsen’s 13.

With the night being senior night for Page Hudson, Mikenna Cass and Grace Nixon, Cooley pointed to the group’s leadership in helping the JV team and other younger players.

“My seniors do a nice job in mentoring young players. They stepped up when we had three or four JV players get hurt, and we had seniors playing the JV game and distributing the ball to the JV players to get good minutes on the floor,” said Cooley.

With the Timberwolves playing towards their best basketball of the season, the team on display looked as good as it has all season. Cormack feels the team is improving each night out with players on the floor who have a dramatic contrast in varsity floor time compared to opponents.

“What we lacked entering this season was experience. We have some seniors that this is the first year they’ve ever touched a varsity floor,” said Cormack. “... The game is slowing down for us. ... In my mind as a coach, we’re getting better, and I’m having rival coaches tell us we’re getting better. That’s where we’re at. ”

Southwest Valley 51, East Union 37

SOUTHWEST VALLEY (23) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 21 3-10 51. Marah Larsen 6 1-4 13, Maggie Haer 4 0-0 10, Norah Lund 4 0-0 10, MaKayla Houck 4 2-6 10, Halle Pearson 1 0-0 3, Hailey Mendenhall 1 0-0 3, Lindsay Maurer 1 0-0 2. 3-point goals — 6. Team fouls — 18. Fouled out — Pearson.

EAST UNION (37) — (FG FT PTS) Totals — 14 8-16 37. Kaylin Lack 5 4-5 14, Grace Nixon 2 2-4 7, Noelle McKnight 3 0-1 6, Karah Kirland 2 1-2 5, Mallory Raney 1 0-0 2 Mikenna Cass 1 0-0 2, Aubrey Hanson 0 1-2 1. 3-point goals — 1. Team fouls — 12. Fouled out — None.