The Lady Alma-Pepin Eagles basketball team contested against the Whitehall Norse on Friday, December 13, 2024, where the Lady Eagles were victorious, beating Whitehall 48-39.
The Lady Eagles knew this would be a tough game considering Whitehall had beat the last few teams that the Eagles lost to. The Eagles didn’t let this discourage them; they scored the first points and didn't stop there. The Norse started out in a press, so the Eagles took advantage of this and made the Norse regret it. The Lady Eagles made breaking a press look effortless. The Norse quickly took their press off considering none of Whitehall’s shots were falling. This allowed the Eagles to create a big lead. With eight minutes left in the first half, the Eagles were up 24-8. The Eagles didn’t stop there; they kept working their offense and getting tons of offensive rebounds along with a lot of chances to shoot free throws. Macy Stewart, along with Finley Noll, and Allidah Luff had a great first half having a combined score of 25 points between the three players. This allowed the Eagles to have a huge lead going into the half making the score 40-15.
Going into the second half, the Norse did not let the lead discourage them. Whitehall came out in a 1-2-2 match-up zone defense, which made the Eagles reconsider their offense. Neither of the teams were scoring much in the second half, but Aryana Ausderau, Trinity Aasen, and Paige Lisowski helped give Whitehall some much needed points. Along with Whitehall's tough zone defense, they stopped Alma-Pepin from scoring. With ten minutes left in the second half, the score was 46-24. The Eagles could not get a shot to fall, allowing the Norse to make a comeback. The score was getting closer as the Eagles’ lead was fading, the score being 48-33 with three minutes left. The Eagles were trying to stall, but Whitehall's quick hands were making it tough. The Whitehall fans were out of their seats hoping the Norse would get their fifth win of the season. The Eagles pulled it together toward the last couple of minutes and ended up winning 48-39.