Wolves snap 5-game losing streak to Lady Reds

The IKM-Manning Wolves girls got back in the win column after dropping its previous five games with a 53-22 win Tuesday night at home over the Lady Reds.

“It feels really good,” said Senior Mabel Langel. “We needed a win.”

Junior Abby Neilheisel opened the game by scoring the first two buckets and giving the Wolves an early 4-0 lead. Senior Emmie Ring then made a 3-pointer to start the game on a 7-0 run. The Wolves continued to dominate, taking a 14-6 lead into the second quarter.

Langel got in on the action by scoring her first points of the night consecutive possessions early in the second quarter. The Wolves cruised to an 11-point lead at halftime.

“We always talk about the first three minutes of that second half being really important to set the tone and continue to be aggressive and playing up tempo and playing hard,” said Wolves Head Coach Gene Rasmussen. “I think that was important for us to finish strong.”

The Wolves continued their dominance opening the second half with an 11-0 run, including back-to-back buckets by Neilheisel. Lady Reds head coach Dustin Koyle called a timeout with his team trailing by 25 points.

When play resumed, Freshman Anna Stangl made a shot that helped the Wolves close the quarter on a 19-3 run, taking a 30-point lead into the final quarter.

The fourth quarter was a back-and-forth affair early, but the Wolves won in grand fashion, putting themselves back in the win column.

Rasmussen credited his defense for limiting the Lady Reds to just 11 points in the second half.

“Our defense, I thought played really well tonight,” he said. “I thought we used our defense in transition to get some easy baskets at the other end, and I was very pleased with how aggressive we came out and played.”

The Wolves are on the road Thursday to play the 5-13 Boyer Valley Bulldogs. The Bulldogs are led by Junior Lauren Malone with 150 points, Junior Jessica O’Day with 191 rebounds and Sophomore Maria Puck with 51 assists.

“We need to out rebound them, we need to play good defense like we did tonight,” Langel said. “We just need to have all those key components that we used tonight and keep bringing them back for our next game."