Lady Toppers boast high scoring quarters in games against Wolves and Bears

By Kelsie Hoitomt

The Glenwood City girls basketball team won their sixth straight game in a row after beating the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves 66-33 last Thursday night.

They hit the road two days later for a contest in Clayton, which ended in an upset with the Toppers losing 53-48.

Big win at home

Their game against the Wolves was the highest scoring contest the Toppers have played this season.

Their road to victory began with an outstanding first quarter of ball played; one of their best this year. The Toppers posted 25 points in the opening eight minutes with five three point shots made, three doubles and four free throws.

Senior Jen Kopacz was on fire. She has been a quiet player this year for the Topper team, but she made her presence known from the start.

She started the game by draining two free throws. Then she sunk a three, drove in a double, drained another free and finished with two more free throws.

Backing her up on the court was Moriah Kuehndorf who had a triple to start the game and then two doubles. Morgan Kadinger came out swinging as well with two three point shots of her own made.

The girls were on fire with a 25-10 lead going into the second. They stayed consistent on the court for the remainder of the game with 13 points scored in both the second and third quarters and then they finished with 15 in the fourth.

There was action from new players in the second quarter with Jenesa Klinger scoring a double and one free throw.

Mikaela Voeltz also took her first basket with a double and so did Maya Petersen. And Gabby Peterson made a free throw.

In the third quarter Peterson and Kuehndorf each made two doubles and Voeltz and Klinger had one a piece; Klinger also made a free throw.

To finish the game, Kopacz was on the line and made two baskets and she drained her third three. Petersen and Kuehndorf hit the hoop twice for eight total points between the two and Voeltz had one basket of her own.

The Toppers finished with 19 doubles, six triples and they were successful with ten out of 17 free throws.

Kuehndorf and Kopacz led the game in points with 19 and 18. Moriah finished strong under the net with eight doubles and one triple and Jen had one double, three triples and seven free throws.

Voeltz finished with seven points from her three doubles and one free throw. Petersen and Kadinger each had six points; three doubles from Petersen and two threes from Kadinger.

And Peterson and Klinger each had two doubles and one free throw.

Bears are ruthless 

If you look past the “L” on their record and dive into the facts of what happened in the Toppers’ game against the Clayton Bears, you will see a very interesting contest.

The Toppers trailed 27-10 at the half after scoring zero points in the second quarter against the Bears.

They came back with 10 points scored in the third and a staggering 28 in the fourth, which gave them at a five point loss of 53-48 as the buzzer rang.

Now that is impressive when you look at it considering the Bears are a division ranked team with just one loss on their record in the 2014-15 season.

They ran a nine game winning streak to start the year and then lost to Cameron at the beginning of the month. Since that loss they have been back on a winning streak with four games in a row.

In the first quarter, Kadinger pushed in two doubles and Kuehndorf had one followed by two free throws. Peterson scored two free throws as well for the Toppers only points of the first half.

A major “talking to” was had during the half time break. The Toppers emerged from the locker room a different team with a new mindset.

They started to run a press against the Bears and they took chances on offense, which allowed them to score ten points in the third.

Voeltz, Kopacz, Kuehndorf and Megan Samens each made a two point basket and Kuehndorf also sunk two free throws.

They held the Bears to just ten points as well with four of them coming by free throw. The fouls were starting to come heavily and eventually that led to Kuehndorf and Kopacz fouling out of the game.

The fouls were crazy in the fourth quarter with the Bears taking 21 shots. Out of the 21, they made 14 of them and then had one double for their 16 final points.

On the Toppers’ side, they finished with six free throws made out of ten attempts.

Peterson drained two and then followed that with three doubles. Kuehndorf had a three to start the quarter, then a double and two free throws.

Klinger hit a three for her first basket of the game. Voeltz, Kopacz, Petersen and Samens each had one double and then Kadinger made two final free throws.

As a team, the Toppers made 15 doubles, two triples and they finished with 12 out of 19 free throws made.

The Bears won the game with ten doubles, five triples and 18 out of 27 free throws made.

On the Topper team, Kuehndorf led this game in points as well with 15 from her six out of ten free throws, three doubles and one triple.

Peterson followed with ten from three doubles and she went four for four from the line. Kadinger had six points from two doubles and two free throws.

Samens, Kopacz and Voeltz each made two doubles, Klinger had her one triple and Petersen had one double.

On the schedule, the Toppers played St. Croix Central Tuesday (Jan 27). They will be back home Friday, January 30 to host Spring Valley and then the following Tuesday, February 3 they will play on the road against Clear Lake.