Johnson’s 40-point night, foul trouble key factors in Laker Girls Basketball loss to Bemidji

Detroit Lakes, MN (KDLM) – It had been 10 days since the Detroit Lakers Girls basketball team played their first game of the season, but those ten days were all spent focusing on their opponents in their second game of the season.

“These last ten days, all I could think about was beating Bemidji,” said Laker junior forward Jaycee Hauser, who led the Lakers with 16 points Tuesday night. “They’re still the main team we want to beat every year.”

The last time the Laker played Bemidji, they were Section 8AAA rivals. But since Bemidji knocked the Lakers out of the second round of the 8AAA Section Tournament 67-51 last March, the MSHSL realigned the sections and Bemidji moved up to 4A.

The Lakers opened up an 11-point lead midway through the first half of Tuesday night’s game before Bemidji clawed back into the game, ending the first half on a 6-0 run and trimming the Laker lead to 27-23 at the half.

The Lumberjacks took the lead with just under 11:00 minutes left in the game; their first lead since a 2-0 score early in the game and never looked back.

“Bemidji took the momentum back at that point.” Laker head coach Rachel Johnson said after the game. “I told the girls, ‘It’s pretty dead in here, and that comes down to your energy and the bench’s energy.’ We’ve got to be the jumpstart for those fans to get our momentum back.”

Despite a Bemidji’s Jackie Johnson tying a program record with 40 points in the game, the Lakers kept it close. A three-pointer from Hauser and clutch shots from sophomores Grace Gunderson and Elle Bettcher with under two minutes got the Lakers back within three points, but the Lakers weren’t able to overcome the deficit and lost the game 69-62.

“Those young girls stepped up and are filling in their roles great,” Johnson said. “They are learning quickly, asking great questions, and are very coachable. I appreciate when they’re out there on this big stage…they have high expectations of themselves, which helps us tremendously because they want to learn as much and as quickly as they can.”

Detroit Lakes (1-1) has another tough test this Saturday: another rivaly game, this time on the road against the #1 ranked team in Class AA Fergus Falls (3-1) at 2:30 on Saturday. The Lakers will then play a Perham team on the road that just handed Fergus Falls their first loss of the season last night, 67-55. The Laker then have a Christmas tournament in Bemidji before returning home to open the brand-new Lakeshirts Fieldhouse at Detroit Lakes High School against the St. Cloud Rush (the St. Cloud Tech/Apollo co-op) on January 4th.

BEMIDJI 23 46 – 69

DETROIT LAKES 27 35 – 62

SCORING-

BEMIDJI- Jackie Johnson 40, Elizabeth Bolte 8, Katelyn Milbrandt 8, Kate Hildebrandt 6, Marlee Bieber 11, Jody Pemberton 5

DETROIT LAKES- Jacee Hauser 16, Abby Larson 12, Elle Bettcher 11, Grace Gunderson 11, Ella Okeson 8, Karlee Mace 2, Helena Daggett 2