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English Valleys wins rock fight over Belle Plaine, 39-13
Addison Achenbach leads Bears with 14 points
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BELLE PLAINE — Down to only seven active players on its roster, the English Valleys girls basketball team picked up its eighth win of the season in a rock fight with Belle Plaine in South Iowa Cedar League play Tuesday.
The Bears won 39-13, outscoring the Plainsmen 19-4 in the second half.
“We knew we were going to get pushed around some with their bigger girls, but we just had to be mentally tough,” guard Addison Achenbach said.
The Plainsmen clogged the paint with their size advantage in a 2-3 zone most of the game.
Bodies were hitting the ground on both sides as baskets were hard to find all around.
English Valleys’ defense proved to be its best offense, turning enough steals into baskets for the decisive win.
“I think we are a very defense-based team,” Addison Achenbach said. “Communication is what really kept us going. When games like this are not going good, we need to work as a team.”
Aubrey Achenbach scored the first five points of the game as the Bears led 10-3 after a quarter.
Belle Plaine’s best stretch came in the second, where they scored six points.
The Plainsmen scored back-to-back baskets from Reghan DeRycke and Jadie Dahlquist to cut the lead to 12-7. English Valleys led 20-9 at the break.
Executing off steals was more efficient for the Bears in the second half as both Addison and Aubrey Achenbach reached double figures.
Addison finished with a game-high 14 points and Aubrey added 10.
DeRycke had four points for Belle Plaine.
Bears’ leading scorer from last season, Ava Gehrking, is out for the rest of the season.
Gehrking gave it a try in a game against Danville earlier in January but has been shut down in the hopes of being ready for track season.
The small roster size has brought the Bears closer together.
“We’re missing her out there,” Addison Achenbach said. “Knowing we have a smaller team makes us stronger, and we know we have to go out and be strong for each other each game.”
The win moved English Valleys to 8-4 on the season, 6-3 in conference play. Belle Plaine dropped to 1-11 and 0-8 in conference play.
