Strong second half Saturday lifts Lady Jays to 24-2

Feb. 11—WORTHINGTON — It's hard to do justice to a description of Brooklyn Scheitel-Taylor's best basketball assists using mere words. Usually, you have to be there to fully comprehend them.

In Saturday afternoon's 90-64 Minnesota West victory over visiting Western Tech, the Worthington High School grad had two beauties in the second half.

One of them came when Scheitel-Taylor was at the top of the key, and in a split-second glance she noticed Olivia Hayenga flashing along the baseline. A hard pass with a single right hand found Hayenga in stride for a layup. About a minute later, Scheitel-Taylor whipped a pass to Hayenga again while saving the ball from going out of bounds under the basket. The ball was directed like a bullet to Hayenga standing on the left side of the court, and it became a 3-point basket.

Scheitel-Taylor finished with nine assists in the contest as the Lady Jays outscored a good Western Tech team 53-34 in the second half at the Center for Health and Wellness in Worthington.

The Lady Jays played with a fire down the stretch, refusing to tire. And their energy wore down the Cavaliers.

Scheitel-Taylor, who was an excellent runner on the high school track team, never seems capable of growing weary in a basketball game.

"It's really just adrenaline. If we were running like that in practice, I'd tire out," she said humbly after Saturday's game.

Her coach, Rosalie Hayenga-Hostikka, may not agree.

"I've never seen her tired out," she said.

It takes a fine athlete and outstanding ball-handler to distribute the ball like Scheitel-Taylor distributes it. It probably doesn't hurt, either, that she played with Hayenga at WHS for four years before coming to West this year as a freshman.

It also takes a very good eye ... an eye that can instantly process what it sees.

"It's just getting used to who you're playing with. It's just playing with everybody, and I've been a point guard my whole life," Scheitel-Taylor explained. "I know Liv likes diving to the basket most of the time. It's just most people's tendencies. I feel like you have to anticipate. So by the time you notice them, it's cut off already. Especially if it's a long pass, like Liv in the corner.

"I don't know what she's thinking all the time, but I know what she likes to do," Scheitel-Taylor summed up about her long-time teammate.

With the victory, Minnesota West — the third-ranked Division III team in the nation — improved to 25-2 on the season and 11-1 in conference play. Western Tech dropped to 13-6 and 7-5.

The first half did not go swimmingly for West, which trailed 20-16 at the end of the first quarter and led 37-30 at the half. But the Jays outscored the Cavaliers 26-14 in the third quarter.

"We went into halftime and we were talking about all the negatives ... But I said, 'You know what? We're up by seven," recalled Hayenga-Hostikka, who said that third quarter might have been the team's best third quarter of the season.

Hayenga, who scored just five points in the first half, finished with a game-high 25. Dannyn Peterson also had an excellent game, finishing with 19 points and 10 rebounds. Tia Murray scored 12 points with 11 rebounds and five blocks. And Dasia Potter continued her hot hand from long range, accumulating 12 points.

For the game, Minnesota West converted eight of 21 3-point shots and 14 of 17 free throws.

Emma Geiwitz and Kaylee Skibba both scored 17 points for Western Tech.

The Lady Jays have two regular season games remaining before entering tournament competition. They're at home against Ridgewater on Wednesday before traveling to play Rochester (the nation's No. 1 team) on Feb. 18.

Western Tech 20 30 44 64

Lady Jays 16 37 63 90

WESTERN TECH (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) — Bahr 1-1-3-8, Geiwitz 0-7-3-17, Skibba 0-8-1-17, Rostad 0-2-0-4, Jahr 0-4-3-11, Bauer 0-1-1-3, Baker 0-2-0-4. Totals 1-26-11-64.

LADY JAYS (3FG-2FG-FT-TP) — Scheitel-Taylor 0-1-0-2, Hayenga 4-5-3-25, Huisman 0-3-2-8, Murray 2-3-0-12, Peterson 0-8-3-19, UsesArrow 0-1-0-2, Drapeau 0-1-0-2, Potter 2-2-2-12, DeVries 0-2-4-8. Totals 8-26-14-90.