Photo by Chad Koenen
Bella Olson attempts to drive past a New York Mills defender during a recent road game. The Hornets are currently 1-13 overall on the season.

The girls basketball team had two games this past week after their Monday game against Battle Lake was postponed on Monday due to weather. That game has been rescheduled for Friday, Feb. 21 at 4:30 p.m. and will be varsity only due to Battle Lake having a boys game at home that night as well.  

Thursday at Menahga 62-24 loss

Photo by Chad Koenen
Callie Thompson defends a New York Mills player near the 3-point line during a recent game against the Eagles.

On Thursday night the Hornets headed up to Menahga to take on the undefeated Braves in a conference match-up. They have a very solid team at all positions and also both offensively and defensively. While the score wasn’t really close, head coach Mike Hepola said he was proud of the way the girls fought and kept battling. After a great opening possession and having Alivia Emter hit a 3-pointer to give Henning the early lead, the Hornets really struggled to score and fell behind 33-9 af halftime and then we ultimately lost by the final score of 62-24.

Individually the Hornets were led by eighth grader Stella Iliff who showed good aggressiveness on offense and finished with 7 points, she also led the team with 4 rebounds and 2 assists. She was followed by freshmen Addison Bode and Abbigale Godding with 5 points each. Freshman Alivia Emter had 4 points, senior Lila Thorson 2 points and sophomore Callie Thompson 1 point to round out the scoring. 

Individual stats

Callie Thompson 1 point, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Alivia Emter 4 points, 1 rebound

Brynn Reinbold 1 rebound

Monica Hansen 1 rebound

Tiffany Weber 3 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal

Addison Bode 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal

Abbigale Godding 5 points, 2 rebounds, 1 steal

Lila Thorson 2 points, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 1 steal

Isabelle Godding 1 rebound

Stella Iliff 7 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Friday at 

Bertha-Hewitt 63-47 loss

On Friday night the Hornets  hosted a conference game against Bertha-Hewitt who came in with a 11-3 record, the girls really battled and had the game within a few points late into the game, before ultimately losing by the final score of 63-47.  

Henning got off to a really slow start falling behind 7-0, but battled back and went into halftime down 36-28, the second half started off slow again, but then got it within 6 points late in the game before going cold and allowing some easy shots and losing by 16 points.  

Head coach Mike Hepola said he was really proud of the way the girls battled and is hoping they can build off of that. Individually, the Hornets were led offensively by Alivia Emter with 16 points, joining her in double figures was fellow freshman Addison Bode with 11 points. 

Callie Thompson 9 points, Lila Thorson 8 points, Bella Olson 2 points and 1 point Tiffany Weber rounded out the scoring. Bode led the team with 6 rebounds and 5 steals. Emter, Iliff and Weber led the team with 3 assists each.  

Individual stats

Callie Thompson 9 points, 4 rebounds, 1 steal

Alivia Emter 16 points, 1 rebound, 3 assists, 2 steals

Brynn Reinbold 2 rebounds

Tiffany Weber 1 point, 2 rebounds, 3 assists

Addison Bode 11 points, 6 rebounds, 5 steals

Bella Olson 2 points, 2 rebounds

Abbigale Godding 1 rebound

Lila Thorson 8 points, 4 rebounds, 2 assists

Stella Iliff 1 rebound, 3 assists

With these two losses Henning’s overall record drops to 1-13 on the season. As Hepola has said in the past, Henning has a young set of girls that are learning the varsity level of basketball. Hepola said he truly feels this past week was a big one for the Hornets as they fought hard and were able to see some successes against two really good opponents and hopefully they can build on that in the coming weeks.  

This next week Henning has three games as they travel to Pillager on Monday, host Long Prairie-Grey Eagle on Tuesday, before hosting Sebeka on Friday night.