Reserves help NRHEG girls crush Randolph

By DALE KUGATH

Sportswriter

NEW RICHLAND – New Richland-Hartland-Ellendale-Geneva girls’ basketball coach John Schultz sent in his reserves to ignite the Panthers against Randolph Friday. 

NRHEG romped to an 82-26 victory at New Richland Friday, running its winning streak to 51 straight games over the last two seasons. 

“We had a lot of kids contribute the entire way tonight,” said Schultz. “It was great to see the reserves contribute so much.”

Randolph slipped to 4-8 (6th) in the Gopher Conference and 9-11 overall. The Panthers won the first meeting 96-51.

NRHEG, the defending state champ and top-ranked team in Class AA, climbed to 12-0 in the Gopher and 21-0 this season. 

Despite a sluggish start, NRHEG romped to a 58-16 lead at the intermission. 

The pace slowed down in the second half with NRHEH holding a 24 to 10 scoring advantage. 

“I thought we played very good team defense tonight,” said Schultz. “The last time we played Randolph we gave up 51 points. We improved our hustle on the defensive end.”

NRHEG shot 36 percent from the floor. The Panthers hit 6-17 three-pointers and 18 of 29 free throws. 

Carlie “The Dagger” Wagner pumped in 34 points to pace the high-scoring Panthers. She was 11 of 22 from the floor. 

Jade “The Jewel” Schultz knocked down three triples on the way to a 13-point evening. 

Paige “The Rock” Overgaard and Marnie “Ice” Wagner chipped in with seven points apiece.

Others: Ryann Hagen five points, Maddie Wagner four, Kayley Camerer four, Gretchen Ramaker three, Kelli Harrington three, Anna Stork two.

Overgaard topped the winners with three assists. 

Randolph, which made just seven field goals the entire game, shot 21 percent. The Rockets were 1-6 behind the arc and 11 of 19 from the charity stripe. 

Ashleigh Dralle scored 11 points for Randolph, the lone Rocket in double figures. 

NRHEG had a huge 43 to 17 advantage in rebounds, including 25-2 on the offensive end.

Schultz topped the Panthers with seven rebounds, five coming on the offensive end. Hannah “Badger” Lundberg pulled down six boards and Overgaard, Hagen and Harrington snared five caroms apiece. 

Hagen and Camerer grabbed four offensive boards apiece. 

Overgaard and Stork both blocked a couple of shots. 

Carlie Wagner was a one-person wrecking crew on defense, making nine steals. 

Maddie “Fire” Wagner and Harrington came up with four thefts apiece. 

The Panther defense came up with 25 steals in the game. 

Randolph turned the ball over 33 times in the game. The Panthers were guilty of 13 turnovers. 

The once-beaten NRHEG junior varsity rolled to a 49-24 victory over Randolph. 

The Panthers travel to second-place Blooming Prairie Friday, a team it defeated 64-36 earlier. 

NRHEG is at home for non-conference games against Tri-City United Tuesday and Southland next Thursday.