Warriors 59, Willmar 49
The key: Willmar shot 29 percent from the field, 55 percent from the foul line.
Conference: Brd 8-4, Will 8-5
Overall: Brd 10-9, Will 8-13
Next: Brainerd hosts Alexandria 7:30 p.m. Monday
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In its last two games, the Brainerd Warrior girls basketball team had lost its way.
The Warriors were drilled by 30 points at St. Cloud Tech, a team they had beaten by 10 in the first game of the New Year. Five days later, they were schooled by Central Lakes Conference leader Alexandria 54-30.
"I think our confidence just went down," Warrior senior Katy Johnson said of the skid, which ended Friday night with a 59-49 win over the Willmar Cardinals at Brainerd High School. "We work hard in practice. We get right back into it. We work 110 percent all practice long. That's what gets us back up."
Warriors coach Troy Nelson said, "The last two games we lost handily in both. Some things happened and we kind of got them fixed, and the girls came with a mindset to play together, have fun.
"We got out and ran again. When we get out and run we usually play a lot better. We shared the ball."
Brainerd got back on track Friday starting both halves with bursts of energy and dug deep when Willmar stormed back. The Warriors scored the game's first seven points off of turnovers, and built a 27-9 edge before Willmar began getting into the flow. The Cardinals outscored Brainerd 18-9 the rest of the half.
"At the beginning, we had really good help-side," Johnson said. "I think we were kind of lacking on that a little bit, but right at the end we got back into it so that helped a lot and our rebounding was helping a lot, too."
Nelson said Friday's game reminded him of the Warriors' 70-54 victory Jan. 10 at Willmar.
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"At halftime (Jan. 10) it was 35-27. This half it was 36-27," he said. "It was the same thing tonight. We jumped out. I'm really proud that we battled when things got tight.
"We had a couple games where we have not played very well. We came out with that fire that we've been playing with before. We got the team back that we were a couple weeks ago. I'm really proud of them for that."
The Warriors opened the second half with seven straight points and inflated their lead to 48-29. Willmar scored the next eight to cut it to 48-37. The Cardinals twice trimmed their deficit to eight points down the stretch, but Brainerd withstood its test.
"They were driving a lot," Johnson said of Willmar's scoring bursts, "and our shots weren't falling. (Courtney Magnuson) kept driving in the middle and we weren't getting help-side. We had to take some charges which we weren't doing."
Magnuson, a 5-foot-7 senior, tied Brainerd's Kylee Heurung for game scoring honors with 22 points. She aggressively attacked the rim and challenged Brainerd defenders.
"She's a really good player," Nelson said. "I told her after the game 'I'm glad we don't have to play you anymore. Good luck at college.'"
Johnson finished with 18 points and 13 rebounds. Heurung added 10 rebounds and Jenna Degen contributed 13 points as Brainerd improved to 8-4 in the CLC. At the half, Heurung had 14 points, Johnson 10 and Degen eight.
The Warriors get another shot at Alexandria on Monday in a game that was postponed by bad weather Jan. 8.
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"We'll practice (Saturday) morning and try to come up with a way to beat them on Monday," Nelson said.
Willmar 27 22 - 49
Brainerd 36 23 - 59
WILLMAR
Courtney Hanson 3, Courtney Magnuson 22, Lexi Orlowski 2, Kaitlynn Kienholz 16, Cayle Hovland 6. FG 16-56 (29 percent). FT 16-29 (55 percent). 3-point 1-9 (11 percent). Turnovers: 20.
BRAINERD
Jenna Degen 13, Katy Johnson 18, Kylee Heurung 22, Ashley Huber 2, Tedi Ramberg 2, Amy Southard 2. FG 20-55 (36 percent). FT 14-21 (67 percent). 3-point 5-19 (26 percent). Turnovers: 12.
MIKE BIALKA may be reached at mike.bialka@brainerddispatch.com or 855-5861. Follow on Twitter at www.twitter.com/bertsballpark .
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