---

   The HCN Storm girls just finished four straight games, going 3-1. It started with the Storm hosting the Raiders from Mille Lacs on Jan. 15th.  The Raiders jumped out to a quick 12–0 lead and quickly put the pressure on the Storm to get some points on the board as well. Once the shots started to fall, the Storm caught up and led at halftime time by 7. A defensive change up by the Storm going into the second half helped slow down the hot shooting by the Raiders. The girls held on to finish with a win, with a score of 68 to 58.

   Nora Wake finished with 24 points, seven rebounds and five steals. Maddie Barnes had 19 points, five rebounds and Jasmine Kingsley contributed 12 points and five rebounds. Charity Berg had an amazing 14 steals.

   Next the Storm hosted Conference and Section 7A match up, LittleFork/ Big Falls on Jan. 16th. This time the Storm came out with a commanding lead and held on to it for the rest of the game. The girls played great on both ends of the court and finished the game with only 6 turnovers. They won the game with the score of 79 to 35. 

   Both Barnes, with 24 points, and Kingsley, with 19 points, were hot from the perimeter with a combined 11 three pointers. Berg with eight deflections and six steals and Wake with nine deflections and six steals dominated on defense. Ashlyn Schwarz pulled down 10 rebounds while Madi king had eight. 

   On Jan. 19th, the girls headed to Cromwell-Wright to take on the Cardinals. The Storm showed up to play, surprising many, including the Cardinals themselves. Tough defense, slowing down the pace and taking care of the ball helped the Storm stay with the Cardinals, resulting in a 10 point game at half. The Storm came out of half scoring eight quick points in the first minute making it a two point game. The Cardinals led by only 10 with six minutes left, but the Storm ran out of gas and fell in to foul trouble. Unfortunately, this led to some back-to-back turnovers which the Cardinals capitalized into scoring. Both teams cleared the bench at two minutes, and the game ended with the score of 38-69. 

   Berg finished with 14 points, five deflections and three steals. King contributed eight points and Wake had seven points, 12 rebounds and three steals. Schwarz, Barnes and Kingsley each had three points.

   On Jan. 20th HCN hosted conference matchup Greenway/Nashwauk-Keewatin (GNK). The Storm came out from the gate playing probably one of their best offensive first halves they have had all season. This didn’t deter the GNK Titans however, who kept playing hard and out rebounded the Storm at times to capitalize on second chance shots. Despite a 21 point lead at half the Titans fought back and closed the gap to within four points with about five minutes left of the game. The Storm held strong though and made a comeback forcing the Titans to have to foul in the last two minutes. The storm held on to win with a score of 69 to 55. Stat wise, it was a well balanced game for the girls.

   Barnes had 17 points, four assists and five rebounds. Wake had 16 points, eight rebounds, five assists and six steals. Berg had 15 points and six steals. Kingsley had nine points and two steals. Schwarz had six points and 11 rebounds. King had six points and 11 rebounds.

   “When you only have one practice before four straight games, it’s hard to prepare when they are all so different. I’m proud of how the girls worked hard and pushed through and to come out 3-1 is a big accomplishment. Picking up two more conference wins was huge as well. Probably my favorite game, though was the one we lost. Our goal was to not go into running time and we exceeded that and hopefully the girls realize that they can play with some of the top teams in our section,” said Head Coach Alec Wake. 

   The Storm was scheduled to play Cherry on Jan. 22 but due to bad weather that game was postponed. Coming up the Storm will head to Laporte on Monday, Jan. 26 before hosting North Woods for parents/senior night in Remer on Friday, Jan. 30. The girls will hit the road again Monday, Feb. 2 and head down to South Ridge to take on the Panthers.

---