Cedar girls complete regular season with a 14-2 streak

season in grand fashion and headed into SubDistrict play Tuesday with plenty of good mojo.

After a 1-5 start to the season, the Lady Trojans put together a 14-2 record to close out the regular season. Cedar wound up the regular season last week with wins over Homer (50-35), Battle Creek (44-30) and Pierce (31-17) during a busy final week.

Against Homer, the Trojans struggled through most of the first half, but found away to take a 21-20 halftime lead before blowing things open after intermission.

Brynn Wortmann and Jordyn Steffen had 14 and 13 points to lead the Lady Trojans.

“We had a game plan to try and get Homer moving and speed them up and get turnover out of our press,” Cedar Catholic head coach Craig Wortmann said. “This took most of the game to get this to work. Then in the third quarter the girls turned up the pressure and were able to get quick buckets and string together points that allowed us to take the lead and it.

“We again played very good team defense, the girls are really understanding what and how we want to limit teams to easy baskets, like layups and wideopen shots.”

At Battle Creek, the Lady Trojans blew open the game with an 18-8 fourth quarter to pull away.

Brynn Wortmann broke out with a pivotal, 21-point performance.

“We shot very well from the free throw line (23-of-26) that helped us stay close in the first half,” Coach Wortmann said. “This was not a high scoring game but with very good defense and a high percentage at the free throw line we were able to pull away at the end of the game.

“We were able to get a balance of scoring from our starters to really help pull away at the end of the game.”

Then came the win over Pierce which was but aesthetic.

“The girls fought through and found a way to make enough to beat the third Cl team of the week,” Craig Wortmann said. “I am very proud of the way all the girls have accepted their roles and come together as a group. This group works hard together and strives to find the best they can every night. We have put together a work ethic that I hope will help us next week as we start subdistricts.”

Brynn Wortmann (11 points), Brooke Kuehn (nine points) and Laney Kathol (eight points) provided the bulk of scoring for Cedar Catholic, which again used a big fourth quarter (13-5) to pull away.

Senior point guard Megan Heimes was pleased of how the team ended the campaign.

“This week we had a lot of games and other things going on, but we kept our focus and pushed through,” Heimes said. “We got some good wins and that really helped us. Our defense, even if our shot wasn’t falling, we just kept to the plan and pushing hard and eventually things turned out all right.

“I am very proud of our girls.”

One big thing was the team’s ability to learn how to trust and work together.

“We helped each other get open and find ways to get to the basket,” Heimes said. “Our communication is better and just knowing where someone else is to be better. on things on defense has really pushed us to keep us steady.”

Steadywas an anomaly in a pandemic, but Heimes said overall the team managed to deal with the daily stresses of the times.

“You just forget about it for a little bit and just play the game,” she said. “You get in your little zone and do what you need to do. We are just grateful to play.”

Cedar 10 11 19 16— 50

Homer 12 8 3 12 — 35

SCORING Cedar - Brynn Wortmann, 14; Jordyn Steffen, 13; Megan Heimes, 7; Brooklyn Kuehn, 7; Laney Kathol, 4; Mackenzie Arens, 3; Gracie Dickes, 2.

REBOUNDS Cedar - Brooklyn Kuehn, 6; Laney Kathol, 6; Jordyn Steffen, 4; Megan Heimes, 4; Mackenzie Arens, 2; Brynn Wortmann, 1.

ASSISTS Cedar - Jordyn Steffen, 1.

STEALS Cedar - Jordyn Steffen, 5; Brooklyn Kuehn, 3; Laney Kathol, 2; Megan Heimes, 2; Elli Becker, 1.

Cedar 8 7 11 18 — 44

Battle Creek 6 10 6 8 — 30

SCORING Cedar - Brynn Wortmann, 21; Brooklyn Kuehn, 8; Laney Kathol, 7; Jodyn Steffen, 5; Megan Gracie 1.

REBOUNDS Cedar - Brooklyn Kuehn, 9; Laney Kathol, 7; Megan Heimes, 6; Brynn Wortmann, 3; Gracie 1.

ASSISTS Cedar - Jordyn 1.

STEALS Cedar - Brooklyn Kuehn, 3; Brynn Wortmann, 2; Megan Heimes, 2; Gracie Dickes, 1; Mackenzie Arens, 1.

Pierce 3 6 3 5-17

SCORING Cedar-Brynn Wortmann, 11; Brooklyn Kuehn, 9; Kathol, 8; Heimes, 3.

REBOUNDS Cedar - Laney Kathol, 9; Brooklyn Kuehn, 6; Gracie Dickes, 3; Jordyn Steffen, 2; Megan Heimes, 2; Brynn Wortmann, 2.

ASSISTS Cedar - Megan Heimes, 2; Brynn Wortmann, 1.

STEALS Cedar - Brynn Wortmann, 2; Laney Kathol, 1; Brooklyn Kuehn, 1.

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