By John Rittenhouse
The Adrian girls’ basketball team started the 2002-03 season in promising fashion by securing a pair of non-conference victories.
The Dragons toppled Sioux Valley-Round Lake-Brewster by 22 points in Round Lake Tuesday, Nov. 26 before besting Southwest Star Concept by 22 points in Adrian Tuesday.
Adrian will try to extend its winning streak by hosting Edgerton tonight, Pipestone Monday and Southwest Christian Tuesday.
Adrian 51, SSC 29
A big fourth quarter carried the Dragons to a 22-point win in their home opener against the Quasars Tuesday.
With Kylie Heronimus netting seven of her 11 points and Maria Gengler adding six of her 12 points, Adrian turned a five-point (27-22) advantage heading into the fourth quarter into a comfortable win by outscoring SSC 24-5 in the final eight minutes.
The game was tight through three quarters of play.
Adrian led 10-9 at the end of the first period, but the Quasars knotted the score at 17 at the intermission.
The Dragons moved in front 27-22 in the third quarter before icing the contest with their late-game domination.
Andrea Lonneman led the Dragons with 15 points. Gengler snared a team-high 12 rebounds. Sarah Kruger passed for five assists.
Box score
S.Henning 0 0 0-1 0, Heronimus 5 0 1-4 11, Honermann 2 0 0-0 4, Henning 1 0 0-0 2, Kruger 0 0 2-3 2, Cox 1 0 1-2 3, Lonneman 6 0 3-5 15, Gengler 5 0 2-2 12, A.Henning 0 0 0-2 0, Mulder 1 0 0-0 2.
Team statistics
Adrian: 21 of 60 field goals (35 percent), nine of 19 free throws (19 percent), 32 rebounds, 13 turnovers.
SSC: 11 of 50 field goals (22 percent), seven of 13 free throws (54 percent), 28 rebounds, 23 turnovers.
Adrian 56, SV-RL-B 37
The inside play of Adrian’s Andrea Lonneman and Maria Gengler paved the way to a 19-point, season-opening win over the Raiders in Round Lake Tuesday, Nov. 26.
Lonneman and Gengler, who led AHS with seven rebounds each, scored a combined 39 points in the contest.
After falling behind 9-7 in the first quarter, Gengler netted seven of her 13 points when Adrian outscored SV-RL-B 16-9 in the second period to give the Dragons a 23-18 halftime cushion.
Lonneman burned the nets for 21 of her 26 points in the second half, when AHS put the game away by outscoring the Raiders 33-19.
"We didn’t play good basketball until a four-minute span of the third quarter," said Dragon coach Randy Strand. "We had five straight steals that we converted into 13 points. That spread the difference for us."
Jenna Honermann contributed five assists and five steals to the winning cause. Ashley Cox and Sarah Kruger contributed six rebounds and five steals respectively.
Box score
Henning 0 0 2-2 2, Honermann 2 0 1-2 5, Kruger 0 0 2-6 2, Cox 3 0 0-0 6, Lonneman 10 0 6-8 26, Gengler 6 0 1-3 13, Wolf 1 0 0-2 2.
Team statistics
Adrian: 22 of 53 field goals (42 percent), 12 of 23 free throws (52 percent), 34 rebounds, 19 turnovers.
SV-RL-B: eight of 41 field goals (20 percent), 19 of 33 free throws (58 percent), 18 rebounds, 22 turnovers.