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Bears begin season with big road victory
by Ryan Stonebreaker, Tipton Conservative · Sports · November 30, 2017
DURANT — The West Branch Bear girls’ basketball team began their 2017-18 season on the road. That fact did not phase them, as the Bears scored at least 20 points in each of the first three quarters on their way to an 82-42 victory at Durant.
West Branch coach Jarod Tylee said that his team got better as the game went on.
“I thought we weren’t very good defensively in the first half but got better in the second half. We rebounded well and took care of the ball fairly well,” he said.
With the new season under way, Tylee knows that his team will improve with each passing week.
“We just need to keep improving and execute with consistency,” said Tylee.
West Branch won their fourth straight season opener with the win. West Branch beat Durant 53-44 last year at home and 62 to 48 at Durant to start the 2015-16 season. The Bears won at Bellevue 61-30 the year before that. West Branch’s last season opening loss came at the start of the 2013-14 season in a six-point, 47-41 loss at home to Bellevue.
West Branch began a road-home pattern for their first six ball games this season. The Bears played Wilton on Tuesday, Nov. 28 and will travel to class 3A No. 13 Monticello Friday.
West Branch pulled away from Durant in the first quarter. Leading 9-6, just over two minutes in the basketball game, West Branch used a 11-3 run to take a 20-9 lead two minutes later with 3:56 left in the opening quarter. Tatum Koenig scored six points, Taya Young scored three and Sasha Koenig scored two points in the run. The Bears extended their lead to 16 points by the end of the quarter, taking a 28-12 lead.
Durant responded with better play in the second quarter, scoring 17 points, however, the Bears backed up their 28-point first quarter with a 22-point second quarter to take a halftime lead of 50 to 29.
West Branch put the basketball game away in the third quarter, using a 22-8 run to take a commanding 72 to 37 lead into the fourth quarter. The Bears used a 14-4 run to start the quarter as part of the 22-point quarter.
West Branch shot nearly 50 percent for the game, making 31 field goals. The Bears shot 15-for-21 free throw attempts. Three Bears reached double digits in the game. Tatum Koenig scored 25 points and had 7 assists, 6 steals and 5 rebounds. Sasha Koenig had a spectacular varsity debut, scoring 21 points on 7-of-16 shooting with 6 rebounds, 5 assists and 4 steals. Taya Young added 11 points. Those three starters combined for 57 of the 82 Bear points. Nine Bears scored in the basketball game. Mackenzie Heise scored 8 and Taylor Thein came off the bench and scored 6 points.
Durant shot 45 percent from the field in the game. Ruby Kappeler led Durant scorers with 13 points. Kappeler added 4 rebounds and 2 steals. Kamryn Meyer scored 9 points and pulled down a team high 9 rebounds.
1 2 3 4 Final
WB 28 22 22 10 82
Dur. 12 17 8 5 42
West Branch (82): Kaiya Luneckas (f) 1-1 0-0 2, Tatum Koenig (g) 9-20 6-8 25, Taya Young (g) 5-8 1-2 11, Sasha Koenig (g) 7-16 4-5 21, Mackenzie Heise (f) 3-3 2-3 8, Abbey Fryauf 0-0 0-0 0, Lexie Peak 1-1 0-0 2, Riley Vaughan 2-6 0-0 5, Bridget Buol 1-1 0-2 2, Maddi Luneckas 0-1 0-0 0, Taylor Thein 2-6 2-2 6. 31-63 15-21 82.
Durant (42): Hannah Happ (g) 0-4 3-6 3, Ruby Kappeler (g) 6-11 1-3 13, Kamryn Meyer (f) 4-8 1-10 9, Amanda Wiese (f) 1-2 2-2 4, Lauren Ralfs (f) 2-3 1-4 5, Claire Paulsen 0-0 0-0 0, Annie Taylor 1-4 0-0 2, Kylie Kay 2-2 0-0 2, Kaitlyn Wiese 0-0 0-0 0, Brittany Kahl 0-0 0-1 0, Emily Seligman 1-3 0-0 2. Totals: 17-37 8-26 42.
3-Pt. FG: West Branch 5-22 (S. Koenig 3-6, T. Koenig 1-9, Vaughan 1-3, Thein 0-1, Young 0-1), Durant 0-6 (Kappeler 0-4, Seligman 0-2). Rebounds: West Branch 41 (Kaiya Luneckas 8, Sasha Koenig 6, Tatum Koenig 5, Riley Vaughan 4, Mackenzie Heise 4, Abbey Fryauf 3, Bridget Buol 3, Taya Young 3, Taylor Thein 2, Maddi Luneckas 2), Durant 29 (Kamryn Meyer 9, Amanda Wiese 7, Ruby Kappeler 4, Hannah Happ 3, Annie Taylor 2, Kylie Kay 2, Emily Seligman 2). Assists: West Branch 18 (Tatum Koenig 7, Sasha Koenig 5, Taylor Thein 2, Abbey Fryauf 1, Kaiya Luneckas 1, Bridge Buol 1, Taya Young 1), Durant 9 (Kamryn Meyer 3, Emily Seligman 2, Lauren Ralfs 1, Amanda Wiese 1, Annie Taylor 1, Ruby Kappeler 1). Steals: West Branch 19 (Tatum Koenig 6, Sasha Koenig 4, Mackenzie Heise 4, Taylor Thein 1, Bridget Buol 1, Kaiya Luneckas 1, Riley Vaughan 1, Abbey Fryauf 1), Durant 7 (Ruby Kappeler 2, Hannah Happ 1, Kamryn Meyer 1, Annie Taylor 1, Kylie Kay 1, Emily Seligman 1). Blocked Shots: Durant 1: Lauren Ralfs 1. Total Fouls: West Branch 22, Durant 17. Fouled Out: none.
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