PROVIDENCE 56, MOUND-WESTONKA 50

Wednesday night is the thinnest night of the week for contests. This

was the best option of the four games out there and the Lions of Providence edged out visiting Mound-Westonka 56-50. The game basically came down to who controlled the paint. Providence shot 50% from two point land, more than double MW’s totals of 22%. Three Lions reached double digits with senior Anna Counts scoring a game high 21. Counts would get free, mainly on the left side and scored nine times within an arm of the basket. MW dominated the three point line shooting 53% there. And that was the nature of the game today. MW was continually pushing a boulder up the hill, just like Sisyphus, but every time they got within shouting distance, the rock rolled back down the mountain. With 4:48 left in the first half Providence held a 23-22 lead. Providence finished the half with a 11-4 run to hold a 34-26 advantage at the break. That momentum dissipated at half with MW storming out of the gates with eight unanswered points in the first four minutes capped with Mackenzie Anderson’s second of three 3s on the night (34-34). Then the rock slipped down hill. It was Providence’s turn for unanswered scoring with 12 straight points. In the next four and a half minutes. Counts got things rolling with the first four points (left side of the rim). The pendulum swung back to MW with the Whitehawks closing to 47-44 with 5:42 left (a 10-1 run). Two Lions were hampered with fouls at the time: Maggie Murphy and Hailey Hohenecker. Counts broke the spell with an offensive put back. Two turnovers in the last minutes didn’t help the MW cause.

This was the second time I charted Providence. The first time was in the St. Thomas Thanksgiving event, but I only charted them for one half, before I had to high tail it back to Hamline for the Stillwater game.

Providence is 3-4 on the year. Mound-Westonka is now 2-5

Team	PP100	scorer	Distributor	D stops
Providence	90.3	Anna Counts 21	Maggie Murphy 7	Anna Counts 16
Mound-Westonka	82.0	Jennifer Schaible 19	Three with 6	Maya Thurston 11

TRENCH PLAYER: Anna Counts