Prep Girls Basketball: Wadena-Deer Creek dominates New York Mills, 79-9 (UPDATED)

New York Mills, Minn.—Emily Miron nearly collected a triple-double with 23 points, 12 rebounds and nine steals as Wadena-Deer Creek dominated New York Mills 79-9 in Friday’s non-conference game.

The Lady Wolverines’ relentless full court press broke the game wide open early in the first half. Wadena-Deer Creek scored the first five points of the game on a short range jumper from Miron and a three-pointer from Hope Theisen.

New York Mills countered with a free-throw from Jenna Esala and a put back from Ellie Rutten to make it 5-3 with 15:43 left in the first half.

It would be the closest the Lady Eagles will get as Wadena-Deer Creek’s Avery Jackson ignited the rout with three consecutive steals that put the Lady Wolverines up 12-3 and forced New York Mills head coach JJ Weller to call timeout at the 14:20 mark.

From there, it got worse for the Lady Eagles as Wadena-Deer Creek finished out the first half on a 46-0 run. New York Mills went 1-for-21 (0.0476 percent) and saw some wide open shots just rim out and refuse to fall during the stanza.

“Tonight’s game was a learning experience for our girls. It was a chance to play against a very good, balanced team with a lot of speed, height, and shooting.” Weller said. “All those factors became too much for us and we were overwhelmed early. Wadena-Deer Creek played very tough and aggressive defense which made us turn the ball over or take quick, off-balanced shots which weren’t falling.”

Miron would score 19 points in the first half for the Lady Wolverines, and added two more baskets early in the second half. Jackson ended up with 10 steals and finished with a double-double with 15 points, all coming in the first half. Catilin Volkmann scored 13 of her 20 points in the first half, and nailed four three-pointers in the game.

Esala finally ended the scoreless drought for New York Mills with a driving layup at the 14:17 mark of the second half and Wadena-Deer Creek pulled its varsity starters from the game a minute later.

Esala and Rutten finished with four points apiece for the Lady Eagles, who were playing their season opener. Tori Kempenich adding a free-throw to close out the Lady Eagles’ scoring. New York Mills ended up shooting 3-for-19 (0.16 percent) from the charity stripe.

“I’m happy that we didn’t give up though.” Weller added. “We need to take what we can from this game, get it out of our minds, and then work on our weaknesses to be prepared for next week’s two games.”

On Tuesday, Wadena-Deer Creek (3-0) will host Mid-State rival Staples-Motley while the Lady Eagles (0-1) battle visiting Pillager during a Park Region matchup.

Wadena-Deer Creek at New York Mills on December 2
Lady Wolverines 79, Lady Eagles 9
Wadena-Deer Creek 58 21—79
New York Mills 3 6—9
Wadena-Deer Creek
Hope Theisen 5, Sydney Schissel 6, Sarah Craig 2, Caitlin Volkmann 20, Macy Hartman 4, Emily Miron 23, Courtney Dumpprope 2, Avery Jackson 15, Melissa Moenkedick 2
New York Mills
Tori Kempenich 1, Jenna Esala 4, Ellie Rutten 4