The Minooka girls junior varsity basketball team fought closely with Oswego East, but pulled together to win 42-25 on Dec. 2 at home.

Minooka was struggling against the Wolves in the first half with an ending score of 16-15, Oswego East. Minooka struggled against the pressure and aggression from Oswego East.

”They were good. They were aggressive and had good box outs,” junior Kara Haake said. 

Minooka also struggled to find teamwork and communication in the first half.

”They’re a good team, but we weren’t playing as a team, so it didn’t turn out as good,” sophomore Cassie Fuhrman said.

At the beginning of the second half both teams were fighting with one another.

“The first half was kind of rough, but the second half we came back and fought with them,” sophomore Maria Vercelote said.

Later in the half Minooka pulled together as a team to win. A key part of this was communication.

“We had a rough first half, and then we talked about the Minooka mindset during halftime, Brai Munson, Minooka assistant coach, said. “When we came out, we played together and had leadership. We were also more aggressive to come out with a team victory.” 

Aggression was also key to Minooka’s victory.

“First half was rough. But in the second half we started to communicate better and then we started to clique and then we started to showcase our skills,” Haake said.

Minooka was led by Vercelote in scoring with 11 points as well as leadership. She was also the second most efficient shooter with 40% from the field. 

Haake was also a big contributor with the second most points, 9, and the most efficient shooter with 50% from the field. 

“In the second half Maria made a spark and then we all fell in and played better,” Fuhrman said.

Fuhrman was also effective on the post scoring 7 points and a steal.