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Girls basketball: NLS Wildcats get reasdy for WildCard

michael lyne, west central tribune, willmar, minn.
·3 min read

Dec. 23—NEW LONDON — Led by sisters Avery and Dakota Rich, the New London-Spicer girls basketball team enters as the favorites to win the Heritage Bank WildCard tournament.

The four-team tournament kicks off Tuesday when NLS takes on Central Minnesota Christian School at 6:15 p.m. at Willmar High School. Willmar and Redwood Valley play after the conclusion of the NLS/CMCS game.

"It's something to look forward to in the middle of the season. It's a great opportunity to play in front of people with pretty good media coverage," NLS head coach Mike Dreier said of the WildCard tournament. "I think we should have a real good chance to be very competitive in the tournament."

The Wildcats are ranked No. 8 in the Class A rankings by Minnesota Basketball News and are off to an 5-0 start.

Most recently, the Wildcats upset No. 3 Albany in a 45-33 comeback victory behind a team-best 13-point performance by Avery Rich.

Avery Rich, a 5-foot-6 senior guard, was a member of the 2022 West Central Tribune All-Area First Team and earned Wright County Conference West Division honors following the 2021-22 season.

Avery Rich leads the Wildcats in scoring, averaging 18.4 points per game. Her season-high of 21 points came against West Central Area.

Avery Rich's younger sister, Dakota, is another player to watch at the tournament. She is averaging 14.2 pppg in her sophomore season with a season-best of 20 points against Eden Valley-Watkins.

"(Avery and Dakota) are both very good players," Dreier said. "Their dad (Earl) did a good job of steering them in the right direction to be into basketball, like it, and put their time and effort into being as good as they possibly can be."

The WildCard third-place game is 6:15 p.m. Wednesday with the championship to follow at 8 p.m. NLS won the tournament last year with a 55-48 victory over Willmar.

"For us to win, we've got to have contributions from our entire lineup," Dreier said. "That's been our situation, we don't really depend on one person. We've got several people who can give good performances a night. If that happens, we've got a good chance (at winning the tournament)."

Here's a look at the other teams in the WildCard:

CMCS has a 1-6 record. The Bluejays' first win came Dec. 17 in a 53-45 victory over Renville County West.

Some players to watch include junior Lauren Taatjes, freshman Carrie Mulder and eighth-grader Sienna Duininck.

Duininck and Taatjes have each surpassed double-digits in scoring in three of CMCS' seven games. Duininck's season-high is 22 points. Taatjes' season-best is 12, a mark she has reached twice.

Mulder's season-best 13 points came against Kerkhoven-Murdock-Sunburg on Dec. 9. She is averaging 8 points per game.

CMCS fell to NLS in the opening round of the WildCard tournament last season, 42-34 on Dec. 27.

Redwood Valley is 1-3. Kenzie Lundeen and Kendall Huhnerkoch are at the forefront of Redwood Valley's attack. Lundeen averages 13.8 ppg and Huhnerkoch i averages 11.2.

Lundeen and Huhnerkoch are the only two players on Redwood Valley averaging more than 25 minutes per game. Lundeen leads at an average of 30.8 and Huhnerkoch follows behind at 28.0.

Redwood Valley's victory came Dec. 20 in a 59-56 win over Gibbon-Fairfax-Winthrop.

Willmar is 0-5. Seniors Allie Rosendahl and Zoe Schroeder, junior Kenedee Salonek and freshman Brielle Ogdahl are players to watch.

Schroeder averages 9.8 ppg. Rosendahl averages 7.6. Ogdahl averages 6.8 and Salonek averages 6.6.

Schroeder and Ogdahl are Willmar's top rebounders. Both average 5.8 rebounds per game.

Willmar and Redwood Valley faced off at the WildCard tournament during the 2021-22 season. Willmar defeated Redwood Valley, 59-20 on Dec. 27.