Taking the first step

Moments after his team overcame a relatively slow start to beat Union Saturday night, New Hampton coach Chad Pemble was asked what his team needed to do to beat fifth-ranked and unbeaten Osage in Wednesday’s Class 2A regional semifinal game?
His answer pretty much came down to this: The Chickasaws need to duplicate the second half they had just played in their 57-36 win over Union in the regional opener.
“I think we played much better defensively, and really our defense led to our offense,” Pemble said after his team improved to 12-10. “And we were much, much more patient on offense, and you saw how many opportunities that gave us.”
The first half gave Pemble and his coaches pause as New Hampton struggled to get untracked.
“I think the girls were jacked up, which you know, I get because it’s a playoff game,” he said, “but I thought our second group of girls came out just a little more relaxed.”
Union took its last lead at 21-20 before New Hampton closed the half on an 8-1 run that was culminated by Alexa Wemark’s buzzer-beating shot from just inside the half-court line.
--More on the story may be found in the Feb. 13 Tribune.