Without a single senior and just three juniors, the Arlington girls basketball team went 13-9 during the 2022-23 season.
It and the Eagles' five-game winning streak ended Monday with a 49-41 loss to Wahoo Neumann (11-12 overall) during the Class C1 Subdistrict 4 Tournament at North Bend Central. The Cavaliers advanced into a second-round matchup with the host Tigers, while coach Luke Brenn's team reflected on what could have been.
“I thought we should of won, maybe, about four or five more games (this season), realistically,” he said. “But we didn't and that's apart of the youth that we have.”
AHS' young roster was tasked with a physical game against Neumann on Monday. The Eagles were less-experienced and smaller in stature with a refereeing crew that allowed contact.
“Unfortunately, it was a rough game — both ways,” Brenn said.
The coach didn't like some of the foul calls against his team, but believed the Cavaliers likely felt the same way about others. Ultimately, Arlington had to adjust to what they were up against.
“We told them we had to be physical,” Brenn said. “We had to match their physicality tonight.”
It started well early as the Eagles took advantage of an aggressive Neumann defense. They worked their way around them with quick cuts to the basket and fast breaks.
AHS junior Taylor Arp scored the game's first points from the foul line before sophomore Britt Nielsen scored back-to-back buckets for a 6-1 advantage. Every point was the result of Neumann's inability to keep the Eagles in front of them, so coach Rick Ahrens took a timeout with 5:38 still left in the opening quarter.
The Cavaliers came out of the huddle and outscored Arlington 20-15 the rest of the first half. Nelson's 12th and 13th points capped the second period for a 21-21 tie, but Neumann's trapping zone defense and physical play was dictating the game.
“First half, we just didn't fight real well on the rebounds,” Brenn said.
The Eagles improved their physicality, he added, but their opposition led every moment after the 23-23 tie of the third period. A Hailey O'Daniel layup pulled AHS within 30-28, but it was as close as Brenn's team would get.
Nielsen later added a pair of free throws to cut the Cavaliers' advantage to three points midway through the fourth period, but she fouled out shortly thereafter. In total, the sophomore knocked down two 3-pointers and had a game-high 18 points.
“I thought she did an excellent job,” Brenn said.
Arlington did what it could to continue its comeback in the final minutes, but it couldn't pull it off despite nine overall points from Emme Timm. Macy Wolf and Arp finished with six apiece, too.
“We had some shots, but we just couldn't get them to fall either,” Brenn said.
The Eagles' coach started two freshman, two sophomores and a junior against Neumann. It faced an older, bigger team and lost, but AHS excelled enough during the season to finish with a winning record despite its prep inexperience.
“I was very proud of them since the conference tournament,” Brenn said. “The last six games, we fought. We got better each game and we just continue to grow.”
AHS BASKETBALL LINE SCORE
Monday
Wahoo Neumann 49, Arlington 41
WN (11-12) 8 13 12 16 — 49
AHS (13-9) 12 9 9 11 — 41
Scoring: AHS — Britt Nielsen 18, Emme Timm 9, Macy Wolf 6, Taylor Arp 6, Hailey O'Daniel 2
WN — Jill Johnson 13, Bridget Whitney 9, Kinslee Bosak 8, AJ Bosak 7, Julia Ingwersen 6, Caitlin McGuigan 4, Nicole Blum 2.
