BRAINERD — It wasn’t pretty, but the Brainerd Warriors closed out their home schedule with a win Monday, Feb. 16.
Brainerd led by 15 at halftime and shot 55.2% from the free throw line in a 68-65 win over the Rogers Royals.
Addison Bjorklund finished with 29 points to pace the Warriors offense. Allison Thomes scored 15 points, hitting three-of-four free throws in the last minute. Macy Castle tallied 12 points to help the Warriors win their 18th game.
“We competed our butts off tonight,” Warriors’ head coach Troy Nelson said. “We played hard and played much better in the first half than the second half. We had the mental toughness to pull it out in the end.”
Rogers’ Madison Waldo, an eighth grader, hit seven 3-pointers to her 29 points. Kinnley Colligan added 19 points and reached 1,000 points in her career on a free throw in the second half. The Warriors defense held the Royals offense to 36.1% shooting.
“They have some kids, who can hit shots and they were hitting them from the volleyball line,” Nelson said. “(Waldo) went on fire for them today, but we didn’t give her anything on the last couple possessions.”
Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
The Warriors ended the first half hitting four 3-pointers to take a 43-28 lead. Brainerd hit 6-of-10 from downtown in the first half. In the second half, the Warriors went 0-of-8 from distance.
Cora Clough hit back-to-back 3-pointers and Bjorklund hit two 3-pointers as part of her 18 first-half points.
“We didn’t think they had much of an inside presence,” Nelson said. “Part of the gameplan was to get inside touches. Bjorklund did a good job of finishing down there.”
Rogers cut Brainerd’s halftime lead all the way down to one with 22 seconds left. Despite free throw trouble throughout the game, the Warriors hit 5-of-6 free throws in the last minute to seal the win. Castle finished 6-of-8 from the line and Thomes hit 3-of-5. The Warriors tallied 16-of-29 from the free throw line.
Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
“We were not shooting free throws great today, but when we had to make them, we were able to knock them in,” Nelson said.
The Royals opened the second half on an 11-2 run. Waldo caught fire as four of her seven 3-pointers came in the second half.
Bjorklund hit a layup to make it 63-54 Warriors, but the Royals went on a quick 7-0 run to cut the lead to two with under two minutes left.
Tim Speier / Brainerd Dispatch
“I don’t think we were getting the same looks we were in the first half,” Nelson said. “They doubled teamed the post a little differently and made it more difficult.”
With the win, Brainerd finishes the regular season 12-0 at home. The Warriors can share the Central Lakes Conference title with Alexandria with wins in their last two games. Brainerd travels to Willmar Tuesday, Feb. 17, and ends the season at Sauk Rapids Friday, Feb. 20.
“We want to go win a conference championship and that’s our mindset,” Nelson said.
Kinnley Colligan 19, Harper Colligan 6, Alexa Juntunen 6, Paige Fenstra 7, Madison Waldo 29. FG 22-61 (36.1%), FT 13-21 (61.9%), 3-point 8-26 (30.8%).
Macy Castle 12, Cora Clough 7, Addison Bjorklund 29, Allison Thomes 15, Bethany Black Lance 4, Keeley Gondringer 1. FG 23-54 (42.6%), FT 16-29 (55.2%), 3-point 6-18 (33.3%). Overall: 18-6. Next: at Willmar 7:15 p.m. Tuesday, Feb. 17.
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