WEBSTER CITY – The shots might not have been falling, but that didn’t stop the Webster City girls’ basketball team from buckling down at the defensive end of the court Friday night.

Was it always pretty? No, not at all. But it was a win and that’s all that matters.

Playing various zone defenses, the Lynx stymied the outside shooting of Clarion-Goldfield-Dows and held the Cowgirls to 17 points below their season average in a 36-27 North Central Conference victory.

WCHS (4-10, 4-5 NCC) moved back within a game of .500 in the league.

“We played good defense (Friday night),” WCHS head coach Nicole Muhlenbruch said. “I thought we were kind of lethargic on offense, but it didn’t seem that way with our defense.

“Our goal was to make sure they didn’t come out and kill us with 3-point shots because they have girls that can knock them down.”

Maddie Disney was in the Lynx crosshairs all night. Averaging 14.0 points per game entering the contest, Disney was limited to just seven and canned just one 3-pointer.

The Cowgirls (4-11, 0-8 NCC) didn’t make it easy on themselves either with 25 turnovers, 13 coming courtesy of WCHS steals. Chelsey Wagoner ripped off six thefts and Gabbi Hoversten had three to go along with a team-high seven rebounds.

WCHS needed the shaky outing from the Cowgirls to mask its own offensive deficiencies. The Lynx shot just 22 percent from the floor (11 of 22) and 50 percent at the line (12 of 24).

The fourth quarter was a particularly difficult stretch. Leading 31-20 going into the final eight minutes, WCHS was held without a field goal in the final period and went just 5 of 11 at the charity stripe. Luckily CGD was unable to take advantage.

“The girls took good shots, I didn’t have any problem with any shot that was taken,” Muhlenbruch said.

A big third quarter from junior guard Cassidy Bultena helped to create the separation that WCHS needed. She scored in a variety of ways – on a reverse layup, on a steal and uncontested bucket and from the perimeter – and piled up nine of her team’s 13 points.

Bultena poured in a game-high 14 points. Lynne Chalfant was next in line with seven points.

Muhlenbruch was happy to see the production from Bultena, but she says her team still needs to find balance.

“I’d like to see that from (Bultena) and about three others,” she said. “I would like to see a couple other girls step up and start scoring for us, and I don’t really care who it is.”

The game was tied at 12 early in the second, but WCHS scored nine straight points over the next 81?2 minutes – a stretch that spanned the second and third quarters – to take control for good.

Slow start dooms WCHS girls

WEBSTER CITY – No. 14-ranked (Class 3A) Gilbert raced out to a 16-4 lead after one quarter and went on to beat Webster City, 42-31, in a non-conference girls’ basketball game on Saturday.

The Lynx (4-11) outscored Gilbert (11-5) 21-17 in the second half.

Cassidy Bultena (eight points), Mikaleh McCoy (six), Gabbi Hoversten (five) and Kayla Miller (five) led WCHS in scoring. Bultena also pulled down six rebounds.

Elise Powers (13) and Paige Hoiberg (11) scored in double figures for the Tigers.