Watertown-Mayer keeps its road mojo going

Fresh off a huge win at #2AAA Alexandria, Watertown-Mayer hit the road again Tuesday night and kept its mojo going in an 80-55 win at Heritage Christian in Maple Grove. The Royals led 17-16 at 11:30 and then went on a 31-10 run to put the game away.

Oddly enough, Watertown’s shooting percentage dropped during its run. Both teams shot well early—Heritage 8-of-10, Watertown 7-of-15. Then, for the rest of the 1st half, the Royals shot 12-of-28. Heritage went cold, still getting good looks but the shots stubbornly refusing to go down. The Eagles made 4-of-16 shots with 5 turnovers. It didn’t help the Heritage cause that 7 Watertown field goals were of the 3-point variety, while the Eagles made just one 3-pointer. It was 48-26 at the half.

Claire Killian made 5 3s en route to 21 1st half points, while Monika Czinano dominated inside with 18 points and 9 rebounds.

Watertown’s lead topped out at 32 points at 76-44 at the 6 minute mark.

Killian finished with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists and 7 steals, Czinano with 26 pints and 10 boards. Annika Simonson scored 20 and Taylie Scott 18 for Heritage on combined 15-of-35 shooting. Simonson added 7 boards and 3 assists, Scott 4 rebounds and 5 steals. The Eagles Maddy Torve was the 5th player to score in double figures with 10.

The Royals shot 29-of-77 for the night and the Eagles 22-of-58—both 38 percent. Watertown led 41-28 on the boards while the turnovers were 21-9. Watertown had a huge 26-4 edge in points off turnovers.

MVP—Killian, a 5-9 senior who is headed to Nebraska-Omaha to play D1 basketball, was awesome with 30 points, 6 rebounds, 3 assists, 7 steals and a blocked shot, with just one turnover. She hit 6-of-8 3s.

Best Play—Kirstin Klitzke, who had a fairly quiet night, grabbed a defensive rebound around the 2:30 mark and hit Czinano with along bomb for a breakaway 2 and a 42-21 Watertown lead.

Best Offensive Performance—Killian, obviously.

Best Defensive Performance—Well, the truth is that both defenses were pretty soft. Heritage got good looks all night but just couldn’t get the ball the go down. But their (Heritage’s) zone defenses were too sluggish to deny Killian and Czinano the shots they wanted. Still, I would say Klitzke was the top defender. She slowed Taylie Scott down in Watertown’s man defense through much of the 1st half. Scott had 4 points in the 1st half on 2-of-6 shooting, 2 assists and 6 turnovers, and 14 in the 2nd.

Best Under-the-Radar Performance—Annika Simonson, a 5-10 junior, isn’t really below the radar but was Heritage’s best player with 20 points on 7-of-17 shooting with 7 boards and 3 assists.

Best Underclassmen—It’s hard to believe Taylie Scott is still just a sophomore. She has been a fixture in summer ball for a long time. She finished with 18 points after a rocky 1st half.

Best Player off the Bench—Watertown senior guard Olyvia Schroeder had a nice game with 7 points on 3-of-7 shooting with 4 boards and a steal.

Best Rebounder—Czinano was dominant.

Best Passer—Watertown got any number of runouts off the defensive board. It was perhaps Klitzke who passed the ball upcourt the most frequently in that scenario.

Best Catch and Shoot—Killian.