by Steve Peterson

Akron-Westfield’s girls’ basketball team fought hard throughout but Gehlen Catholic held off the Lady Westerners, 38-30, in the War Eagle Conference (WEC)opener for A-W on Dec. 4 in Le Mars.

Junior Dana Hedlund scored 13 points and had five steals for the Lady Westerners. She made 6-of-15 field goal attempts, had one assist and one blocked shot.

Junior Jordan Hansen scored eight points as she made all three field goal attempts including a three-pointer.

Junior Kayla Tindall had 11 rebounds and six points and three assists.

Senior Haley Coyle contributed four points, three rebounds, two assists and one steal.

The visiting Lady Westerners trailed 9-6 after one quarter and 19-15 at halftime. Gehlen led 28-19 heading into the final quarter. A-W closed the gap by one in the fourth stanza.

A-W slipped to 0-4 overall record, 0-1 in the WEC.

Akron-Westfield 6-8-4-11-30

Gehlen Catholic 9-10-9-10-38

Statistics, Akron-Westfield Lady Westerners, 38-30 loss to Gehlen Catholic, Dec. 4:

Hansen: 8 points, 3-of-3 field goal attempts, 1-of-1 three-point field goal attempt, 1-of-1 free-throw attempt, 2 rebounds, 1 assist, 1 steal, 1 blocked shot.

Dana Hedlund: 13 points, 6-of-15 field goal attempts, 1-of-4 three-point field goal attempts, 1 rebound, 1 assist, 5 steals, 1 blocked shot.

Sarah Schroeder: 1 point, 0-of-3 field goal attempts, 1-of-2 free-throw attempts, 4 rebounds, 2 assists, 3 blocked shots.

Jacynda Banks: 2 points, 1-of-2 field goal attempts, 1 rebound.

Coyle: 4 points, 2-of-6 field goal attempts, 0-of-2 three-point field goal attempts, 0-of-2 free-throw attempts, 3 rebounds, 2 assists, 1 steal.

Bethany Eastman: 0-of-3 field goal attempts, 5 rebounds.

Tindall: 0 points, 0-of-6 field goal attempts, 11 rebounds, 3 assists.

Cali Westergard: 2 points, 1-of-5 field goal attempts, 1 rebound.

Team: 30 points, 13-of-43 field goal attempts, 2-of-7 three-point field goal attempts, 2-of-5 free-throw attempts, 28 rebounds, 9 assists, 7 steals, 5 blocked shots.