-Messenger photo by Britt Kudla Erin Flattery of St. Edmond shoots around Mariah Frye on Friday

Steve Neuberger knows it will take a few games for everyone involved with the St. Edmond girls to get familiar with each other.

The Gaels jumped out to an early lead here Friday night in their 2017-18 debut, but Clarion-Goldfield/Dows rallied behind freshman Raven Kinnetz to claim a 45-33 victory.

Kinnetz scored 15 points and had three steals, with Megan Askelsen adding eight points off the bench for the Cowgirls (2-1 overall, 1-0 in North Central Conference).

Neuberger replaced Scott Messerly as head coach just prior to the start of the season. St. Edmond (0-1, 0-1) is also without the services of starting guard Livi Huss due to injury.

“It’s a long season and we want to be improving every single game,” Neuberger said. “We are still trying to figure out our rotations, our substitutions and who is comfortable with who. Some of the girls are also trying to figure out their roles.”

Cambrie McBride, a sophomore, scored 10 points to lead the Gaels. Erin Flattery had five points and nine rebounds, with Macey Mason recording three steals.

Flattery’s bucket with 29 seconds left in the first quarter gave the Gaels an 8-4 lead, which McBride pushed to seven with a 3-pointer to start the second.

“I thought we played great in the first quarter and beginning of the second,” Neuberger said. “Then we hit a stretch where we couldn’t make shots. We had some lapses on defense and that allowed (Clarion-Goldfield/Dows) to take the lead at halftime.

“One thing we have to do is figure out ways to win when shots are not falling.”

The Cowgirls closed the first half on a 12-2 run, as Kinnetz recorded a steal and turned it into a layup at the buzzer. She has scored in double figures in all three games this season, racking up 53 points.

Kinnetz helped C-G/D put the game away in the fourth, scoring six points.

St. Edmond, meanwhile, struggled in the second half, shooting 2-for-21 from the floor and missing all eight 3-point attempts.

“I was happy with how our defense played,” Neuberger said. “We created some turnovers and converted on the other end. We can learn from this, we just need to execute better moving forward.”

Clarion-Goldfield/Dows has already matched its win total from a year ago when they went 2-20, also equaling the number of NCC victories they had.

The Gaels step out of league play when they host Southeast Valley on Tuesday, with the Cowgirls meeting Iowa Falls-Alden next Friday.

CLARION-GOLDFIELD/DOWS 45, ST. EDMOND 33

Clarion-Goldfield/Dows — Raven Kinnetz 6-9 2-2 15, Maya Jackson 1-3 2-2 4, Mariah Frye 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Harle 2-5 0-0 4, Emily Kapka 3-8 1-2 7, Megan Askelsen 2-2 3-4 8, Vanessa Kolb 0-1 0-0 0, Quinn Hansch 1-3 0-0 2, Kendal Lienemann 0-1 0-0 0, Lauren Odland 2-7 0-0 5. Totals: 17-39 8-10 45.

St. Edmond — Macey Mason 0-3 3-4 3, Jacque Oberg 2-5 0-0 4, Hannah Huss 1-11 2-2 4, Erin Flattery 2-3 1-2 5, Brea McNeil 1-6 0-0 2, Cambrie McBride 4-6 1-1 10, Jocy Timmerman 1-6 2-4 4, Abby Landwehr 0-0 0-0 0, Devyn Scott 0-0 0-0 0, Sidney Messerly 0-1 2-2. Totals: 11-42 11-15 33.

Quarter scores: St. Edmond led 8-4, Clarion-Goldfield/Dows led 24-21, 31-26. 3-point goals: Clarion-Goldfield/Dows 3-9 (Kinnetz 1-2, Jackson 0-1, Kapka 0-1, Askelsen 1-1, Hansch 0-1, Odland 1-3); St. Edmond 1-10 (Mason 0-3, Huss 0-4, McBride 1-2, Messerly 0-1). Total rebounds: Clarion-Goldfield/Dows 28, St. Edmond 29. Steals: Clarion-Goldfield/Dows 12, St. Edmond 8. Blocked shots: Clarion-Goldfield/Dows 1. Turnovers: Clarion-Goldfield/Dows 25, St. Edmond 26. Team fouls: Clarion-Goldfield/Dows 13, St. Edmond 15.