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Lynx girls let upset slip through their fingers

WEBSTER CITY – Delivering tough postgame speeches goes with the territory when you’re a coach, but there are times when there simply are no words.

Nicole Muhlenbruch found herself in that predicament Friday night.

“It was probably the hardest time I had going into the locker room because I really didn’t know what to say,” Muhlenbruch, Webster City’s head coach, said after a 55-49 loss to North Central Conference co-leader Fort Dodge St. Edmond. “When the kids fight as hard as they fought and they felt it in their hands, what do you say to them?”

Disappointing setbacks are nothing new to the Lynx. But this one was different.

Why? Because they had it – the upset, the program-changer – and they let it slip through their fingers.

“Oh, this one just kills me,” Muhlenbruch said loudly as she exhaled. “But I just said, ‘Kids, I’ve never been prouder of you.'”

With a 10-point lead and all of the momentum in its back pocket with 1:30 remaining in the third quarter, WCHS (4-13, 4-7 NCC) allowed St. Edmond (11-4, 9-1 NCC) to get up off the mat, dust itself off and deliver one final monumental push across the finish line.

With all-conference guards Anna Yung and Jaci Stumpf leading the charge, the Gaels – trailing 39-29 late in the third period – went on a 21-2 run over the next 51?2 minutes to not only take the lead, but demoralize a Lynx contingent that hasn’t quite figured out how to close yet.

Stumpf put her head down and drove to the basket for her points, and Yung did it from behind the arc – her 3-pointer from the left wing with 5:20 remaining gave St. Edmond its first lead (43-41) since the early moments of the game – and at the free throw line.

Stumpf poured in a game-high 22 points. Yung netted 21, keyed by an 11 of 12 showing at the charity stripe.

St. Edmond owned a 20-12 advantage at the free throw line.

“(Stumpf and Yung) understand the game and they know what to do,” Muhlenbruch said. “You can’t take anything away from them, they’re just really good ball players.

“What killed us was the free throw line. They caught up with the clock stopped.”

St. Edmond’s lead grew to as many as nine points in the late stages of the fourth. WCHS never cut its deficit below five.

Cassidy Bultena (14 points), Mikaleh McCoy (12) and Lynne Chalfant (11) all scored in double figures for the Lynx. Bultena and McCoy both yanked down seven rebounds, and Chalfant joined Chelsey Wagoner with two steals.

WCHS ran its offense through McCoy at the high post in the first half and the senior made one good choice after another. She scored eight points prior to the intermission and was a big reason why the Lynx secured a 24-20 lead.

“(McCoy) played really well and you need kids like that to step up,” Muhlenbruch said.

Yung scored eight straight points – six coming at the line – in the closing moments of the second quarter and early in the third to knot the contest at 24.

But WCHS had the answer. Two free throws from Alex Dinsdale, followed by five straight points from Chalfant put the Lynx back out front. McCoy later hit a running bank shot from the right block to make it 39-29.

And then the roof collapsed.

Stumpf delivered what turned out to be a crushing blow with a 3 from the right corner and she was also fouled after the play. She hit 1 of 2 free throws for a four-point possession and that was the beginning of the end for the Lynx.

St. Edmond sliced the WCHS lead down to four, 39-35, heading into the fourth quarter. The Gaels eventually drew even at 39 on a short jumper from Megan Flattery.

A bucket from close range by Dinsdale stopped the bleeding momentarily with 5:45 remaining, but St. Edmond answered with 11 straight points.

Wagoner, Dinsdale and Gabbi Hoversten all chipped in four points in the loss.

WCHS will be back on the court tomorrow night in Humboldt at 6:15 p.m.

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