Timberwolves improve to 3-1 following two wins last week
By A.J. Gates
Four games into the 2023-24 girls basketball season, and fans of the River Ridge Timberwolves are already seeing just how versatile this year’s team really is.
With non-conference wins over Boscobel and Riverdale last week, coach Veronica Zinkle’s squad heads into Friday night’s Six Rivers West conference opener against Belmont with an early season record of 3-1.
“The thing that is great about this year’s team is our team dynamic,” said coach Zinkle. “In our first four games we have had four different high scorers, because every athlete on this team works together well on offense and defense.”
“We are continuously trying to improve and it’s great to see the growth from game to game,” Zinkle added.
In a 68-40 victory over visiting Boscobel last Tuesday night, the Timberwolves were led by junior shooting guard Reghan Zinkle, who netted 20 points on 4-of-12 shooting from 3-point range.
She was closely followed by senior Shayna Graf, who finished with 18 points, going 3-of-7 from downtown, to go along with five rebounds, three assists and five steals.
Junior point guard Melissa Sletten chipped in nine points, making 2-of-4 shots from downtown, while also pulling down five boards to go along with a team-high eight assists.
As a team, the Timberwolves made 26-of-69 (37.6%) total shot attempts, including a whopping 12-of-40 (30%) from 3-point range. They were 4-of-11 (36%) from the free throw line.
On the following Thursday night the Timberwolves hosted the Chieftains of Riverdale, sending them home with a 53-40 loss.
Junior guard Mandi Wehrle led the Timberwolves last Thursday night with 20 points, making 6-of-14 shot attempts from long range, while Zinkle and Graf each finished with nine points, Zinkle going 3-of-5 from downtown.
Melissa Sletten pulled down a team-high eight rebounds to go along with four assists, while Graf led the team with six assists and four steals.
As a team, the Timberwolves made 18-of-50 (36%) total shot attempts, including 12-of-35 (34%) from 3-point range. They were 5-of-9 (55.5%) from the charity stripe and came away with 14 total steals.
In their first four games this season, the Timberwolves have shown how confident they are in their outside shooting. Coach Zinkle’s squad has taken an averaged of 30 3-point shot attempts per game, and is making them at a 25.4% clip. They are 30-of-118 from long range in their first four games combined.
This Friday night the Timberwolves will open conference play against visiting Belmont, then will travel to Barneveld for a non-conference contest next Monday evening.
