As has been the case of late for the Frazee Lady Hornets, they played a slow first half, only to rally in the second half with inspired defense and hustle.
But Tuesday night in Wadena, the hole that Lady Hornets dug in the first half proved to be too deep, as the Wolverines held on for 54-44 victory.
"We just cannot seem to get out of the gates lately," head coach Dave Conzemius said. "We do not seem to play until we get down big, and we have to use so much energy to get back into the game that we cannot get over the hump."
Wadena (5-13) raced out of the gates, building a quick lead of 20 points at 32-12, only to see Frazee (6-14) finish the first half on a 9-4 run to cut the lead to 15 points by halftime at 36-21.
The second half saw the Lady Hornets steadily chip away at the lead, eventually pulling to within two points at 44-42 with just under three minutes left. Frazee had two possessions to take the lead, but couldn't get the open three-pointers to drop.
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From there, Wadena regained control, as the Lady Hornets couldn't complete the comeback.
"Proud of the way our kids competed in the second half tonight," Conzemius said. "It was just too big of a hole that we dug for ourselves. We need to play the whole game with a sense of desperation that we played with in the second half."
Freshman Alexis Tappe led the way for Frazee with a game-high 18 points. Freshman Ashley Bachmann chipped in with 15 points.
Junior Courtney Volkmann led the Wolverines with 14 points, and senior Hannah Toedter had 12 points.
Hornet results
Frazee at Wadena-Deer Creek, Tuesday, Feb. 9.
Hornets 21 23 - 44
Wolverines 36 18 - 54
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Scoring stats (2-3-ftm-fta-pts) -- Fraz: Kristi Smith 0-0-2-3-2; Alexis Tappe 4-3-1-1-18; McKinzie Tangen 1-0-0-0-2; Jaclyn Mickelson 2-0-0-0-4; Sadie Stender 1-1-1-2-3; Ashley Bachmann 1-3-4-4-15. Team: 9-6-8-10-44.
WDC: Hannah Toedter 6-0-0-0-12; Courtney Volkman 3-1-0-0-9; Avery Jackson 4-1-3-4-14; Kelsi Crawford 1-0-4-4-6; Rachel Craig 2-0-0-0-4; Rachael Carlisile 1-0-0-0-2; Emily Miron 3-0-1-2-7.
