ALDEN — Taylor Martin scored 17 points and added nine rebounds in Alden-Conger’s win over Lake Crystal-Wellcome Memorial Friday night. The final score was 65-36 and put Alden-Conger off to a great start to the year with a win in their first game of the season.
“You never know what you’re gonna get the first game of the year,” Alden-Conger coach Jenny Hovendick said. “We came out looking confident. You can tell the time that we have put in in the off-season and in the first 12 practices of the year.”
Alden-Conger started off quick with a 5-0 lead and never looked back. LCWM got to within three points shortly after that and then Alden-Conger took over.
“I didn’t even feel that we were shooting that well to start,” Hovendick said. “I think it was our defense that got us going. We got some steals and some easy buckets. Then it was like the lid came off and we started to pour it on.”
Alden-Conger had a 13-point run late in the first half. Martin went on a a scoring spree at the expense of LCWM. Martin racked up 10 of those 13 points on her way to her game-high 17 points.
At the end of the first half, Alden-Conger led LCWM 37-13 and went into the locker room with their heads held high.
“We played confident and executed well,” Hovendick said. “That’s about as much as a coach can ask for.”
In the second half, LCWM came out with six quick points and tried to turn the game around. Alden-Conger responded with a 15-2 run to put the game in their hands. That put them up by 31 points and gave them a chance to rest their starters and give some playing time to other players.
“You don’t want something silly to happen, like a rolled ankle or something,” Hovendick said.
While the starters rested, the reserve players still outscored LCWM to finish out the game. The final score ended up 65-36.
Martin and Ariel Keller led in rebounding with nine and eight respectively while Liesel Theusch added five. Alden-Conger’s rebounding just as well could have been the winning combination.
“If everybody puts a body on someone, the ball usually falls in our hands,” Hovendick said.
Alden-Conger’s next game is at Madelia on Dec. 4.

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