GILBERT – Weathering storms oftentimes make all the difference between winning and losing.

Games are never going to be perfect. There are going to be lapses, both mentally and physically. It’s the team that can overcome those obstacles that is usually celebrating when the final horn sounds.

Webster City was that team here Saturday night.

A shaky offensive outing, particularly in the second quarter when just one shot from the field was made and only three points went up on the scoreboard, didn’t derail the Lynx, as they put together a solid second half to get by Gilbert, 42-37, in a non-conference showdown.

It was the third game for WCHS (7-10) in as many days and the team’s second consecutive victory after it ended a four-game slide with a 71-36 shellacking of Fort Dodge St. Edmond on Friday.

Fatigue had set in, and yet the Lynx still prevailed.

“The thing that makes me the most happy is that, after three games (in three days), the girls still fought,” WCHS head coach Nicole Muhlenbruch said. “I knew we probably wouldn’t score a lot of points and I knew there would be some tired legs, but I just kind of told them ‘girls, it doesn’t matter and I really don’t care. You need to fight through this game.'”

And fight they did.

Sophomore reserve Cassidy Nerland put together her second straight double-double performance – 13 points and 11 rebounds, both team highs, in the win over Gilbert (12-7). Chelsey Wagoner, Allie Flaws and Cassidy Bultena all scored seven points. Gabbi Hoversten finished with six.

It was Nerland who took over in the third quarter, as she scored nine of her points to turn a 16-14 halftime deficit into a 29-27 WCHS lead entering the final period. Two of her four buckets in the third came off offensive rebounds.

“She is one of the most coachable young ladies,” Muhlenbruch said about Nerland. “She listens to everything you tell her, she does whatever you ask her to do and she never loses her emotion out there. She continues to fight and she’s just not going to let anybody beat her. And I think it’s motivation that we see her working hard and it makes everyone else step up their game.”

Another Nerland bucket early in the fourth quarter, followed by a Wagoner 3-pointer from the wing increased the Lynx advantage to 34-27 with 6:50 remaining. Flaws piled on with a long jumper from just inside the arc two possessions later to cap a 7-0 run that Gilbert was never able to recover from.

The Tigers closed to within 38-35 with a minute to go, but Wagoner and Hoversten both cashed in on a pair of free throws in the final 57 seconds to preserve the win.

The finish was in contrast to the less than ideal first half. WCHS missed four consecutive lay-ups during one stretch of the first quarter and didn’t have a field goal in the second quarter until Bultena hit a runner from inside the lane with 0:01.9 showing on the clock.

Bultena scored all three of the Lynx second-quarter points and there was a stretch of 11:25 where no one else on the team scored a point before Kayla Miller tossed in a baby hook with 7 minutes remaining in the third quarter.

But what was never a frustration was the defense, as WCHS limited Gilbert to just 15 field goals and only one 3-pointer.

“We’re still in a 2-3 (zone), but I call it a match-up 2-3 and the girls are doing a really good job of talking,” Muhlenbruch said. “There’s really no help out there; we’re asking girls to stay on those outside shooters and take care of who we’re asking them to guard.”

Hoversten also registered six rebounds, three steals and three assists. Bultena came up with four steals and three assists; Flaws also made three thefts.

WCHS amassed 14 steals and shot 35 percent from the floor (16 of 46).

Up next, weather permitting, is a Tuesday home date with Humboldt at 6:15 p.m. The make-up date will be Thursday should the game be postponed.