Girls basketball: No. 3 Panthers prevail

Talk about it

Rosemount girls basketball coach Sam McDonald would have preferred to put last week’s loss to Lakeville North in the past as quickly as possible.

The 66-30 loss was one game McDonald probably would have rather just forgotten.

After talking about last week’s game, McDonald then shifted to a more positive outlook and offered an assessment of the season’s first month.

“Considering what we’ve been through the first half here, we’ve been pretty pleased up until the North game,” McDonald said. “We’re pretty happy with how we’ve played, how we’ve executed and how we’ve had people step up in odd or different roles than was thought when the season opened. I’ve been very happy that way. I wish we had a better showing (against Lakeville North).”

The Irish lost 66-30 on the road against the No. 3-ranked Panthers last week. After three straight wins at home, Rosemount has lost back-to-back games on the road.

“We weren’t so much disheartened with the effort or how mentally ready we were,” McDonald said. “We were ready to go. We just didn’t play or execute anywhere near what I thought we could. That was the disappointing piece. It was not that we lost, but it was the lack of execution.”

The Irish (3-4, 0-1 South Suburban) tried to stay with the explosive Lakeville North squad early, but Rosemount was ultimately done in by a pressing defense.

“We got one turnover and then another and it shook us up a little bit and incited their press to come more aggressively,” McDonald said. “Even in the half court, we didn’t run our half court offense very well. I think we were flustered at that point.”

Laura Bodurtha and Rachel Hoeppner each had a team-high eight points. Brooke Stevens had four points and six rebounds.

“They were on top of their game and we didn’t play particularly well,” McDonald said.

Following the break, Rosemount will take part in the Grand Rapids tournament.

The Irish play Duluth Central in the first game of the tournament on Wednesday, Dec. 29 and will play host Grand Rapids the following day.

Tags: girls basketball, sports, rosemount, irish, prep