Vikings win first two games then bow out in regional final
Playing as the fifth seed in the regional tournament, the Colfax girls defeated a pair of teams from their own conference including Elmwood-Plum City 46-22 and Durand 38-36 to move into the regional final Feb. 27. Going up against their old nemesis, Eau Claire Regis, the Vikings fell just a little short of upsetting the number one seeded Ramblers, losing by a score of 49-45. Colfax finished their season with a 14-11 record and were 9-5 in conference play.
Elmwood-Plum City
Although they had beaten E-PC quite handily both times during the regular season, this pack of Wolves who came to Colfax were a lot hungrier than they were the two previous games. Using a somewhat new zone defense with a lot of double teaming and trapping involved, the Vikings were out of sync for much of the first half which resulted in them turning the ball over several times and going for long stretches without scoring a point. However, the Wolves were not connecting on their shots, several of which were uncontested and right under the basket.
Colfax went up 5-0 on Emma Hurlburt’s bucket and Bryanna Buchanan’s triple but the Wolves came up with four straight points. Savannah Henricks scored on a drive for Colfax but it was almost three minutes before they added a point when Henricks hit a free toss for an 8-6 lead. More than two minutes and two turnovers later, Alyssa Dachel canned a trey for an 11-6 advantage then Dachel found Henricks for a deuce to up the lead. After Heidon scored from the paint, the Vikings lost the ball on two consecutive possessions and it was another two minute stretch before Dachel drained another trey from the same spot of her first one for an 18-8 lead. A free toss from Megan Schleusner allowed the Vikings to hold a 19-10 halftime lead.
“We made a ton of mistakes offensively,” coach Joe Doucette said. “We were fortunate our defense played well and E-PC missed a lot of shots. We just get too excited and we struggle offensively sometimes.”
The Wolves scored first in the second half on a shot from under the hoop but Heidorn countered with a put back and added a free throw a minute later for a 22-12 advantage. After a pair of Hurlburt free throws, Dempsey Fogarty scored twice from close range and Hannah Sykora added a fast break bucket with a free toss to make it 31-14 with eight minutes left. The Vikings’ defense began to take control with a steal and a Heidorn shot, and a free toss by both Sykora and Dachel completed a 10 point run and Colfax was up 36-14. E-PC came up with three straight deuces to cut the Colfax lead to 36-20 with four minutes left. Sykora dropped in a pair of freebies, Heidorn took a dish from Fogarty for a bucket then Fogarty added her own deuce to go with another Sykora free toss and it was 44-22. Hailey Durand-Christianson scored off a slick in-bounds pass to close out the scoring and the game for the Vikings.
“Any win is a big win when it comes to tournaments,” Doucette said. “We had a few good stretches that kept us alive. I am glad we had the chance to play tonight instead of waiting until Friday so we could get some experience for our young players,” he added.
Nine Vikings scored in the contest with Heidorn leading the way, tallying 10 points. Fogarty had a team leading seven rebounds, five assists and seven steals while Henricks pulled down six rebounds and Sykora had a career high eight points. Colfax was just 3 for 18 from three point land and 13 for 25 at the foul line.
COLFAX (46) Heidorn 4-2-5-10, Sykora 1-6-7-8, Dachel 2-1-2-7, Fogarty 3-0-1-6, Henricks 2-1-2-5, Hurlburt 1-2-4-4, Buchanan 1-0-0-3, Durand-Christianson 1-0-0-2
ELMWOOD-PLUM CITY (22) C. Catura 3-2-4-8, A. Morrell 3-0-0-6, L. Diesing 3-0-0-6, J. Helmueller 1-0-0-2
THREE POINTERS: Dachel 2, Buchanan 1
Durand
After beating the Panthers by five points at home early in the season, then losing to them by 18 points a few weeks ago, the Vikings came up with the win in the rubber game despite making just 2 of 11 free throws and 6 of 26 three point shots in the game. The Vikings pulled out to a 22-12 lead in the first half on three Fogarty deuces, a trey each from Schleusner, Heidorn, Henricks and Buchanan along with a close range shot from Sykora and Hurlburt. But Durand put the hammer down and went on a 10 point run and the game was knotted at 22-22 at the intermission.
The second half was a see saw battle with neither team leading by more than three points at any given time. Heidorn came up with five points, Fogarty and Hurlburt both had a deuce, Dachel added a free toss and after Durand pulled ahead on a triple, Henricks canned her second trey of the half to regain the lead for the Vikings. With two minutes left, that proved to be the game winner as Colfax missed several free throws, but again their defense stood tall and shut the Panthers down to preserve the win and live to play another day.
“We found a way to win despite not making a lot of open shots that rattled out,” Doucette said. “Our ability to defend when Durand tried to pound the ball inside gave us a chance to hang in there. The end was very tense and it was a great win for our young team in a great atmosphere. We showed resilience and teamwork and were really tested,” he added.
Henricks collected nine points on a trio of triples to lead the Vikings and Fogarty was the chairman of the boards with 13 rebounds and also led with four assists and six steals. Hurlburt and Heidorn both snared seven rebounds.
COLFAX (38) Henricks 3-0-0-9, Heidorn 3-1-4-8, Fogarty 4-0-5-8, Hurlburt 2-0-0-4, Schleusner 1-0-0-3, Buchanan 1-0-0-3, Sykora 1-0-0-2, Dachel 0-1-2-1
DURAND (36) A. Schlosser 3-3-7-10, E. Hansen 2-5-10-9, E. Annis 3-0-0-7, M. Radle 1-3-4-5, R. Prissel 1-0-0-3, S. Baier 1-0-1-2
THREE POINTERS: Henricks 3, Schleusner 1, Heidorn 1, Buchanan 1, Prissel 1, Schlosser 1, Annis 1
Eau Claire Regis
Although Colfax knocked the Ramblers out of the regional tournament a year ago, this young group of Vikings were dumped by the Ramblers a month ago by over 20 points, making it seem this game would not be much of a contest. But that thought was dispelled early as the Vikings hung right with the Ramblers until the bitter end. Heidorn started the Colfax scoring with a driving deuce, Buchanan drained a triple and Heidorn knocked down two free throws for a 7-4 Vikings’ lead, then went cold from the field for a few minutes allowing Regis to pull ahead 10-7. Schleusner made one of her timely treys to knot things up and followed with a pair of free throws to put her team ahead by two. After a Heidorn swipe, Buchanan found an open Fogarty for a deuce, Hurlburt scored from the paint a few seconds later and when Schleusner drained another triple it was 19-14 in the Vikings’ favor, prompting Regis coach Patrick Boughton to call a time out.
The Ramblers Shea Brey, a Division 1 college recruit next fall, was called for a charge and her second foul after the time out, but Regis tied it up with three free throws and an inside bucket with 4:30 to go in the half. Neither team could hit the broad side of a barn in the next two minutes but Dachel went to the charity stripe after the seventh Regis foul with 2:33 to go and dropped in the free toss to go up by a point. Regis went back up 23-20 before Buchanan canned her second shot from behind the arc to tie it again. It appeared the Ramblers had connected on a three pointer themselves but the ball bounced up and hit the top of the backboard before falling in and it was called off by the keen eyed referee. After a Colfax turnover, Regis scored on a couple of free throws, and with the ball in the Vikings’ hands with 30 seconds left, the Ramblers were double teaming every Viking who touched the ball. Somehow it ended up in the smallest player on the court’s hands, that being Dachel, and in the middle of the lane she tossed up a sidearm shot that found nothing but net as the buzzer sounded and it was 25-25 at the intermission.
“Regis came in averaging a lot of points,” Doucette said. “They love to push the ball but we were able to get back on defense. Schleusner and Buchanan had a great first half, combining to score 15 of our points,” he added.
Regis opened the second half with a bucket on a put back but Fogarty countered with a drive down the lane and a minute or so later hit a free throw to put Colfax up by a point. Hannah Anderson scored in the paint to regain the lead for the Ramblers before Heidorn scored off an in-bounds pass and Hurlburt canned a short jumper for a 32-29 Colfax advantage.
The taller Ramblers continued to pound the paint with an Anderson bucket and a free throw to knot the score again, but Heidorn found Dachel open at the top of the circle and she found nothing but net on a three point shot. The Ramblers came up empty on two possessions, missing several open shots and Henricks drew a foul and went to the line to hit a pair of freebies for a 37-32 Colfax lead. Hannah Gibbons connected for a Regis trey and the Vikings came up empty on two shots under the hoop on their next possession. A fast break for the Ramblers resulted in an easy bucket and it was 37-37 with 8:45 to go in the game. Turnovers and missed shots by both teams kept the score knotted until Regis reserve Sarah Andre knocked down a trey with 7:00 on the clock.
The Regis run continued with six more points for a 46-37 lead with 3:00 to go and things looked pretty glum for the Vikings at this point. But Heidorn stopped the bleeding with a shot from behind the arc with 2:13 to go, and after the Ramblers went into a spread offense to try and run the clock down, Colfax committed their seventh team foul. A missed free throw left the door open for the Vikings and Heidorn made sure she found that opening with another triple from the top and it was 46-43 with 1:21 to go. After a Rambler free throw, Fogarty took a dish from Henricks and scored under the hoop and Colfax was down 47-45 with 40 seconds left. An Andre free toss upped the Ramblers lead to three, and with 32 seconds left, the Vikings had the ball and tried desperately to find an open player and get a clean shot off. But Regis wasn’t about to let that happen and when Heidorn tried to take a shot, Anderson stuffed it and the Ramblers tracked down the ball. One more free throw with a second left ended the game with the Ramblers on top.
“We were so close against a very good team that is big, physical and talented,” Doucette said. “It really came down to that stretch in the second half when they went on a 14-0 run. When they hit a couple of three pointers, we lost our poise offensively and had some turnovers. We did a lot of great things to put us in a great spot to beat them but it wasn’t enough.”
Heidorn was the only Viking to score in double figures with 12 points. Fogarty, the defensive specialist, frustrated Brey all night and held her to just five points. Colfax was 8 for 11 from the foul line while Regis was 12 for 21. The Ramblers will play Fall Creek, who beat Dunn St. Croix Conference runner up Glenwood City 63-52.
EAU CLAIRE REGIS (49) Anderson 6-4-7-16, H. Gibbons 4-2-4-10, Andre 3-1-2-9, T. Milanowski 1-3-5-5, Brey 1-3-4-5, A. Darge 2-0-0-4
COLFAX (45) Heidorn 4-2-2-12, Schleusner 2-2-2-8, Fogarty 3-1-3-7, Buchanan 2-0-0-6, Dachel 2-1-2-6, Hurlburt 2-0-0-4, Henricks 0-2-2-2
THREE POINTERS: Schleusner 2, Buchanan 2, Heidorn 2, Andre 2, Dachel 1