Girls control offense for conference win

The Titan Girls Basketball team beat conference rival Sibley East 48 to 45 last week.  

According to Titan Coach Kevin Woitas, the Titans started the game very slowly and found themselves in major foul trouble. The Titans had three starters sitting on the bench with three fouls each with eight minutes left to play in the first half.   “It was very hard to get the flow going in the first half with all of our foul trouble,” said Woitas.  

Chelsey Walerius was called on to handle a majority of the point guard duties, with Coley Selly in foul trouble and sophomore guard Courtney Hentges not playing due to a concussion.   “Chelsey did a very nice job of handling the ball,” said Woitas.  “She was very tired and I knew that, but we didn't have another point guard that we could put in.” 

The Titans went into halftime down 19-23. Both teams traded blows in the second half and with six minutes remaining the teams were dead locked at 30 a piece.  

“I called a timeout with about six minutes left,” said Woitas.  “I told the girls to settle down a little bit and be patient with the offense.”  

The Titans responded by controlling the tempo game on offense.

“We were able to work it down low with their big girl in foul trouble,” the coach  said.

He added then the Titans knocked down some crucial free throws down the stretch to seal the victory.  

The Titans were led by Alyshia Angileno's 17 points and 7 rebounds.  Walerius added 7 points.  Danielle Angileno had 7 points and 12 rebounds.  Edith Martinez had 6, and Selly had 5, Megan Steffen had 4, and Annie McCrady had 2 to round out the scoring for the Titans.  

The girls are now 3-4 on the season and 2-2 in the conference, which puts them tied for fourth place with Mayer-Lutheran and Belle Plaine.   The Titans will play three games at the St. Clair Holiday Tournament over break.  

“We are looking to be above .500 coming out of the holiday break, which is a task that hasn't happened in a long time for the girls’ basketball program,” Woitas said. “They will take on St. Clair in the first round on Thursday night, and will then play either Hayfield or Maple River in the second round.”