The Henning varsity girls basketball team wrapped up their regular season with three games last week. The week included their last two conference games.  

The girls did a great job and won all three games to finish the regular season with a 17-1 record. The Hornets also won their second consecutive Park Region Conference championship finishing 12-0 in the conference. 

Head coach Mike Hepola said he is proud of this group of young ladies and now they will turn the page into the playoffs and look to continue to get better each and every day.  

Monday, March 8 at Wadena-Deer Creek 77-36 win

On Monday the Hornets traveled to Wadena-Deer Creek to take on the Wolverines. The girls did a great job of getting out to a fast start as we built a 41-13 halftime lead. In the second half the Hornets were able to continue to play solidly on both ends of the court and won by the final score of 77-36.  

Henning’s defense led to a bunch of its early offense as the Hornet finished the game with 32 points off of turnovers. Offensively, Henning executed at a high percentage as the girls worked together and took quality shots finishing with an overall field goal percentage of 61 percent for the game.  

Individually Henning had four players in double-figures and one just shy of that as Ellie Dague led the way with 20 points, followed by Kylie Frederick 12, Megan Rinicker and Megan Weber both scored 10 points each and Faith Fisher finished with 8 points. Grace Hammer had 5 points, Becca Frederick and Ally Hart 4 points each, Lyvia Misegades and Lily Fraki (first career points) 2 points each rounded out the scoring.  

Dague and Kylie Frederick led the team in reboundsounding with 6 each and Dague also led the team with 5 assists. Fisher and Dague both led the team with 5 steals each.  

Head coach Mike Hepola said it was a nice team win that clinched the Park Region Conference championship for the girls with the other teams all having at least 2 losses.  

Individual stats

Faith Fisher 8 points, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 5 steals

Becca Frederick 4 points

Megan Rinicker 10 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal

Ellie Dague 20 points, 6 rebounds, 5 assists, 5 steals

Ally Hart 4 points, 2 rebounds, 2 assists

Megan Weber 10 points, 1 assist, 2 steals

Lyvia Misegades 2 points, 1 steal

Katherine Hansen 1 rebounds

Lily Fraki 2 points 

Grace Hammer 5 points, 4 rebounds

Makena Kenyon 3 rebounds, 

Kylie Frederick 12 points, 6 rebounds, 2 steals

Thursday, March 11 at Pillager 81-47 win

On Thursday the Hornets traveled to Pillager for their final conference game of the season. 

Pillager had beaten Menahga and had won five of their last six conference games so Henning knew it had to show up and play. The Hornets did a great job once again on both ends of the court. The Hornets held a 42-23 halftime lead, before ultimately winning by the final score of 81-47. The girls forced 15 turnovers. which they converted into 25 points and once again had a nice shooting percentage by taking good shots finishing at an overall shooting percentage of 54 percent.  

Henning once again had four players in double-figures offensively as Ellie Dague led the way with 17 points followed by Megan Weber at 15 points (5 threes), Kylie Frederick 13 points, and Faith Fisher 11 points. Megan Rinicker just missed joining them finishing with 8 points on the night. Makena Kenyon 6 points, Ally Hart 5 points, Becca Frederick and Lyvia Misegades 3 points each rounded out the scoring.  

Fisher led the team in reboundsounding with 8 reboundsounds, including 4 offensive reboundsounds.  Dague and Fisher led the team in assists with 8 and 7 respectively.  Kylie Frederick, Fisher and Dague led the team with 3 steals each. The win gave the girls an undefeated conference championship 

Individual Stats

Faith Fisher 11 points, 8 rebounds, 7 assists, 3 steals

Becca Frederick 3 points, 1 assist

Megan Rinicker 8 points, 4 rebounds

Ellie Dague 17 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists, 3 steals

Ally Hart 5 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist

Megan Weber 15 points, 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 steals

Lyvia Misegades 3 points, 2 rebounds

Makena Kenyon 6 points, 3 rebounds

Kylie Frederick 13 points, 1 rebounds, 3 assists, 3 steals

Saturday, March 13 vs. Pine River-Backus 64-38 win

On Saturday the Hornets hosted the Pine River-Backus Tigers in a game Henning scheduled due to Menahga canceling their game earlier this season.  

Head coach Mike Hepola said Pine River-Backus has a very solid team, they had gotten out to a 9-0 start to the season and then had scheduled some tougher competition as they came in with a 10-7 record. He said the Hornets did not want to take the team lightly as they have three really solid players and some other good role players.   

It was designated as our Senior Day as Henning has six outstanding young ladies on the court and another one as their manager that the team will miss after this season. Hepola said he is proud of what this group of seniors has accomplished on the court and off the court.  

Henning started five of our six seniors and they did a nice job getting the team out to a 6-0 lead. Henning had a few moments where its offense wasn’t flowing real well, but the Hornets defense did a great job against a team averaging just shy of 70 points per game on the season. Henning held a 29-18 halftime lead, before winning by the final score of 64-38. Kylie Frederick took two really big charges on the defensive end in the victory.  

Once the Hornets started moving the ball a bit better, and moving our bodies better, the team started getting really good looks on offense and that once again led to a solid field goal percentage of 48 percent.  

Ellie Dague once again led the way scoring with 26 points on 8-15 shooting and 8-8 at the free throw line. She was followed by fellow guard Faith Fisher with a great game finishing with 17 points on 7-11 shooting. Kylie Frederick made it a trifecta of guards in double-figures finishing with 13 points. Megan Weber 5 points, Megan Rinicker 2 points and Makena Kenyon 1 point rounded out the scoring.  

Dague led the team in reboundsounding with 8 reboundsounds, followed by Kylie Frederick with 7 and Kenyon with 6. Weber led the team with 4 assists and tied for the team lead in steals at 2 with Kenyon.  

The win brings the girls’ final overall regular season record to 17-1 as they now move onto the Section 6A playoffs.  

Hepola said he is very proud of this group and really looking forward to them continuing to work each day to get better and get prepared for that next opponent. 

The Hornets, who are currently ranked second in the state, are scheduled to play at home on Wednesday, March 17 7 p.m. against the winner of Park Christian and Hillcrest Lutheran. 

Individual stats

Faith Fisher 17 points, 2 rebounds, 1 assist

Megan Rinicker 2 points, 4 rebounds, 1 assist

Ellie Dague 26 points, 8 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Megan Weber 5 points, 5 rebounds, 4 assists, 2 steals

Lyvia Misegades 1 rebounds

Makena Kenyon 1 pt, 6 rebounds, 2 steals

Kylie Frederick 13 points, 7 rebounds, 1 assist, 2 charges taken