GMG junior Reese Dieleman (24) turns to shoot over a pair of BCLUW defenders during the first half of last Friday’s Iowa Star Conference South Division basketball game in Garwin. Dieleman scored a career-high 23 points in the Wolverines’ 59-32 victory. PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

GMG girls’ basketball has struggled to score at times this season. Defense has kept the Wolverines close in most games, but what has decided wins or losses is how well the Wolverines play on offense.

For most of last Friday night’s (Jan. 20) Iowa Star South battle with BCLUW, the Wolverines were humming. Using quick ball movement, strong outside shooting from junior Adeline Sienknecht and capitalizing on Comet turnovers, GMG ran away with a 59-32 victory to improve to 9-6 on the campaign and 6-3 in the Iowa Star Conference’s South Division. BCLUW drops to 6-10 and 3-7.

Jumping out to a 10-0 start in the first four minutes, GMG never trailed on Friday. The interior duo of Marriah Stonewall and Reese Dieleman had success in the mid range and on the block, with threes by Sienknecht and Maecyn Lewis late in the first forcing the Comets to come out to the wings more.

Dieleman was particularly effective from the free throw line and in, finding a hole in the BCLUW zone and exploiting it on the way to a game-high 23 points.

Head coach Mick Long said it was a big performance from the Wolverines after two difficult losses to Don Bosco and North Tama earlier in the week.

GMG’s Adelyn Sienknecht shoots a 3-pointer over BCLUW’s Kalia Stover (15) during the first half of last Friday’s basketball game in Garwin. Sienknecht scored 15 points for the Wolverines. PHOTO BY NOAH ROHLFING

“Tonight they played outstanding, did exactly what I wanted,” Long said. “We played it really, really well. I was happy.

“It was huge for them, because you get beat a couple times by teams you don’t think you should lose to and you start doubting yourself. I thought this was the perfect remedy for our girls.”

At one point in the second quarter GMG led 31-11, but in the final two minutes of the half the Comets put an 8-0 run together to get within 31-19 heading into the break.

The problem for BCLUW was the shots just didn’t fall — the Comets made only two 3-pointers, which was the main shot available to them thanks to the zone defense the Wolverines put together in an effort to stay out of foul trouble.

BCLUW head coach Joel Johnson said the Comets had opportunities, but couldn’t make the Wolverines pay.

“We didn’t shoot well enough to win, we were getting decent shots, we just couldn’t get them in,” Johnson said. “They had active hands and it was tough for us to make passes.”

In the third quarter, there was a brief opportunity for the Comets to cut the gap to 10 points, but no shots would fall. By the end of the third GMG led 47-21 and was running away with a comfortable win. Sienknecht hit three 3-pointers in the third quarter alone on her way to 14 point performance. Stonewall added 12 points with strong play inside.

GMG’s next game was set for Tuesday, Jan. 24 at Colo-NESCO, followed by another road game against Collins-Maxwell on Friday. Their next home game is scheduled for Jan. 31 against Baxter during which senior players will be honored.