Indians advance to regional final vs Cresco

The Waukon Indians defeated the Oelwein Huskies 52-43 Saturday night.  In what most thought would be a tough game vs a vastly improved Oelwein team over the last half of the season, The Indians hung tough despite foul trouble controlled the game and pulled out the victory in the end.

Waukon Led 13-9 after the first quarter as Mary Halvorson was nearly unstoppable hitting her first four shots.  The Huskie defense started to colapse on her more and made other Indians step up.

Logan Hjerlied got into foul trouble while gaurding one of the conferences best players in Kirsten Nelson.  Jordon Reiser stepped in during the second quarter and contributed big time scoring 6 points in the second period and playing solid defense.  Waukon pushed its lead to 13 at one point in the second and then Nelson picked up her 3rd foul with 2 and a half minutes to go in the half.

However the Huskies battled back behind Alex Jippson and Jenna Loew cutting the lead to a mere seven points at the half 30-23.

Waukon battled hard again in the third, controlling the ball, only turning it over 9 times for the game.  Tatum Meyer and Hjerlied both hit big buckets pushing the Indian lead back to double digits.

In the fourth the action heated up as both teams were intense and there was alot of contact going on.  Hjerlied picked up her fourth foul and Reiser had to contribute again.  She did so by harrassing Nelson with defense to the point of frustration.  That frustration came out in the form of a Technical foul which ended her night with about 4 minutes to go.  The Huskies still made some plays and eventually cut the lead to 4 points.

A timeout by the Indians saw them make a defensive change to a zone defense that Oelwein was not expecting.  That change followed with back to back steals for layups by Carissa Berger and Tatum Meyer which put the game away.

Waukon struggled from the line but hit just enough to help keep their lead safe for the Victory.

Waukon was led by Halvorson who had 13 points and 10 rebounds.  Berger contributed 12 points and 3 steals.  Logan Hjerlied had 8 points and 4 assists.  Tatum Meyer had an execellent game scoring 8 points while grabbing 5 rebounds, dishing out 3 assists and swiping 4 steals.  Reiser finished with 6 and had some big minutes for Waukon.  Herman finished with 4 points and 6 boards in limited action due to fouls.  Keri Egan and Brittany Schlake also played valuable minutes for the Tribe during the night.

It was a total team win as many players contributed in both ways.  Now Waukon is one game away from the state tournament.

Waukon advances to play the Crestwood Cadettes Tuesday at 7pm in Decorah (High School)