ARGYLE - In a battle for second place in the Six Rivers East, Argyle and Barneveld left it all on the floor.
"We showed great resiliency, I thought," Argyle coach Kurt Ritschard said after Barneveld's 55-53 win Tuesday. "They worked their tails off and gave it everything that they possibly could."
Both teams played menacing defense and jump shots were hard to come by.
"They played a Box-1, and that's very frustrating to me," Argyle junior Jena Saalsaa said of the scheme. "I don't encounter that a lot. They frustrated me and got in my head."
Saalsaa leads the conference in scoring at 21.3 points per game and was held to just four points in the opening half.
Barneveld opened the game without a field goal for the first 7 minutes, 45 seconds. Despite the drought, the 3-pointer that broke the skid by Taryn Pickarts made the score 15-9 in favor of Argyle. Early foul trouble continuously put Barneveld at the line and kept the Eagles in the game. The Eagles were 9-for-16 from the charity stripe in the first half.
Once the baskets started going in for Barneveld, it was their turn to put heavy pressure on Argyle.
"I thought they turned up the pressure on us. I thought we handled it OK for the most part, but it's kind of difficult to bring the ball up the court when you have girls hanging on both sides of you," Ritschard said.
The foul trouble also altered how the Orioles would be able to attack on offense and defend in the front court. Jadyn Saalsaa was charged with four fouls in the first half, and teammate Morgan Nelson, Argyle's only senior, picked up three.
"Jadyn is one of our more aggressive defenders," Ritschard said. "It kind of hurt us in the second half. We had to call on a sophomore (McKenzee Granberg) to play a large role in the second half, and coming out cold after playing the JV game before that. I thought she handled it well, but it's a different atmosphere for her."
If foul trouble wasn't the culprit in the middle of the game for Argyle, it was the offense. And for over a 13-minute stretch, from the final eight minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half, the Orioles scored just one basket and were outscored during the stretch 22-4. The extended Barneveld run put the Eagles ahead 34-25 with 13 minutes to play in the game.
"I thought the shot selection was wonderful," Ritschard said. "I basically tell the kids that if they are open to keep shooting the basketball and hopefully they will start knocking them down sooner or later."
Argyle trailed by as many as 8 with just 1:39 left at 51-43. But that didn't mean any quit for the Orioles.
Saalsaa had a loud conventional 3-point play with 1:13 left to get the crowd into the game. Moments later, Alysabeth Lantz, who scored a team-high 20 points, had her own 3-point play with 48.8 left after fighting for two offensive rebounds. Barneveld struggled shooting free throws down the stretch, making just 4 of 8 in the final 72 seconds. That opened the door for Saalsaa to hit the biggest shot of the game to that point - a 3 from the top of the key off of a set play.
"When we were setting up the play, Coach K (Ritschard) asked me what's my favorite shot and I said it's the top of the key," Jena Saalsaa said.
The rainbow from 23 feet brought the score to 54-53 with just 9 seconds left. Argyle had burned through its timeouts, and by the time Barneveld was able to inbound the ball and pick up a foul, just 2.2 seconds remained. Grace Schutz missed the front end of the double-bonus, but hit the back end to make it 55-53. Jena Saalsaa's half-court heave at the buzzer was well off target.
"I was really nervous about the clock and I have really never been in a position where I needed to shoot from that far out. But it is what it is," Jena Saalsaa said.
Jena Saalsaa and Kirsten Ostby each had 14 points for the Orioles. Pickarts led all scorers with 21 for Barneveld, which included five 3s. Teammates Schutz (11) and Courtney Skaife (10) also hit double digits for the Eagles.
Argyle (15-5, 9-3) now leads Barneveld (8-3) by just a half of a game in the conference standings. The Eagles host Monticello (4-16, 2-9) in the last game of the conference slate Thursday. Black Hawk (21-0, 11-0) has already clinched the conference title.
"It was a game our kids have looked forward to all year. It was a game that they really, really wanted. They wanted to own second place by themselves," Ritschard said. "To Barneveld's credit, they made some nice adjustments and we have to share it."
Argyle hosts Cambria-Friesland on Feb. 20 in the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 postseason. A win would give the Orioles either Randolph or Monticello. Looming beyond that will likely be Black Hawk in the regional championship.
"My goal is to get the team together and have a focused mindset," Jena Saalsaa said. "We've never won a regional and we have nothing on the board (on the gym wall), and that's definitely something I want to do before I graduate."
"We showed great resiliency, I thought," Argyle coach Kurt Ritschard said after Barneveld's 55-53 win Tuesday. "They worked their tails off and gave it everything that they possibly could."
Both teams played menacing defense and jump shots were hard to come by.
"They played a Box-1, and that's very frustrating to me," Argyle junior Jena Saalsaa said of the scheme. "I don't encounter that a lot. They frustrated me and got in my head."
Saalsaa leads the conference in scoring at 21.3 points per game and was held to just four points in the opening half.
Barneveld opened the game without a field goal for the first 7 minutes, 45 seconds. Despite the drought, the 3-pointer that broke the skid by Taryn Pickarts made the score 15-9 in favor of Argyle. Early foul trouble continuously put Barneveld at the line and kept the Eagles in the game. The Eagles were 9-for-16 from the charity stripe in the first half.
Once the baskets started going in for Barneveld, it was their turn to put heavy pressure on Argyle.
"I thought they turned up the pressure on us. I thought we handled it OK for the most part, but it's kind of difficult to bring the ball up the court when you have girls hanging on both sides of you," Ritschard said.
The foul trouble also altered how the Orioles would be able to attack on offense and defend in the front court. Jadyn Saalsaa was charged with four fouls in the first half, and teammate Morgan Nelson, Argyle's only senior, picked up three.
"Jadyn is one of our more aggressive defenders," Ritschard said. "It kind of hurt us in the second half. We had to call on a sophomore (McKenzee Granberg) to play a large role in the second half, and coming out cold after playing the JV game before that. I thought she handled it well, but it's a different atmosphere for her."
If foul trouble wasn't the culprit in the middle of the game for Argyle, it was the offense. And for over a 13-minute stretch, from the final eight minutes of the first half and the first five minutes of the second half, the Orioles scored just one basket and were outscored during the stretch 22-4. The extended Barneveld run put the Eagles ahead 34-25 with 13 minutes to play in the game.
"I thought the shot selection was wonderful," Ritschard said. "I basically tell the kids that if they are open to keep shooting the basketball and hopefully they will start knocking them down sooner or later."
Argyle trailed by as many as 8 with just 1:39 left at 51-43. But that didn't mean any quit for the Orioles.
Saalsaa had a loud conventional 3-point play with 1:13 left to get the crowd into the game. Moments later, Alysabeth Lantz, who scored a team-high 20 points, had her own 3-point play with 48.8 left after fighting for two offensive rebounds. Barneveld struggled shooting free throws down the stretch, making just 4 of 8 in the final 72 seconds. That opened the door for Saalsaa to hit the biggest shot of the game to that point - a 3 from the top of the key off of a set play.
"When we were setting up the play, Coach K (Ritschard) asked me what's my favorite shot and I said it's the top of the key," Jena Saalsaa said.
The rainbow from 23 feet brought the score to 54-53 with just 9 seconds left. Argyle had burned through its timeouts, and by the time Barneveld was able to inbound the ball and pick up a foul, just 2.2 seconds remained. Grace Schutz missed the front end of the double-bonus, but hit the back end to make it 55-53. Jena Saalsaa's half-court heave at the buzzer was well off target.
"I was really nervous about the clock and I have really never been in a position where I needed to shoot from that far out. But it is what it is," Jena Saalsaa said.
Jena Saalsaa and Kirsten Ostby each had 14 points for the Orioles. Pickarts led all scorers with 21 for Barneveld, which included five 3s. Teammates Schutz (11) and Courtney Skaife (10) also hit double digits for the Eagles.
Argyle (15-5, 9-3) now leads Barneveld (8-3) by just a half of a game in the conference standings. The Eagles host Monticello (4-16, 2-9) in the last game of the conference slate Thursday. Black Hawk (21-0, 11-0) has already clinched the conference title.
"It was a game our kids have looked forward to all year. It was a game that they really, really wanted. They wanted to own second place by themselves," Ritschard said. "To Barneveld's credit, they made some nice adjustments and we have to share it."
Argyle hosts Cambria-Friesland on Feb. 20 in the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 postseason. A win would give the Orioles either Randolph or Monticello. Looming beyond that will likely be Black Hawk in the regional championship.
"My goal is to get the team together and have a focused mindset," Jena Saalsaa said. "We've never won a regional and we have nothing on the board (on the gym wall), and that's definitely something I want to do before I graduate."
