Hayward rallies to beat Colfax in girls opener

By Cara L. Dempski

COLFAX — Coach Joe Doucette said the Colfax girls’ basketball team did everything right in their November 18 home and regular-season opener against the Hayward Hurricanes: they rebounded well, they forced turnover after turnover, and played hard as a team.

The Vikings held a six-point lead heading into halftime, but were outscored two to one in the second in their 36-30 loss to Hayward last Friday night.

Doucette was in no way disappointed in his team’s performance.

“The things I was looking for were all there. They tried really hard and I felt we defended and rebounded well all night,” Doucette said. “Hayward is a great team and very well coached.”

The Vikings coach expressed excitement about his team’s performance in the first half of the game. Colfax pulled down rebound after rebound and forced multiple turnovers to give them an 18-12 finish to the half. The Hurricanes turned the tables on Colfax in the second half, forcing multiple Viking turnovers and grabbing rebounds on both ends of the court, and pulling ahead 22-20 in the first five minutes of the half.

A series of fast runs down the court and a couple fouls from Colfax lifted the Hurricanes to 25-20, but the Vikings were able to pull even after a layup from senior Ally Heidorn and a three-point swisher from Hannah Sykora at the top of the key. They grabbed the lead again with another three-pointer from Alyssa Dachel.

The Hurricanes were unrelenting in their attack, though, and the smaller, younger Colfax team was not able to maintain its lead.

Kameri Meredith, a freshman starter, logged nine points for the Vikings in her first high school game. She missed both free throw attempts and committed only foul in the game.

Heidorn racked up seven points for her team, sinking one of three three-point shots and going two-for-two on free throws. The senior logged three fouls. Close on Heidorn’s heels were Dachel and Sykora, who both scored five. Dachel matched Heidorn’s free throw record for the night, but fouled out of the game late in the second half. Sykora missed a free throw, but made up for it by sinking one field goal and a three-pointer.

Savannah Henricks and Morgan Schleusner rounded out the team’s scoring with two points each.

Doucette said there are some things the Vikings will need to work on, but is still pleased with the overall play in the first game of a young team.

“We have to develop some shooters,” he said of where the team can improve. “I think Ally Heidorn is a proven shooter, but we have to get two or three to go along with her, because it’s easy to stop one kid.”

While the Vikings would have loved a win, Doucette said small improvements in shooting will help the team win games in the long run.

Colfax will play its next game November 29 in Bloomer.

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

HAYWARD (13-10-15-36) – E. Strapon 0-0-3-0, M. Neff 6-3-1-15, E. Neff 4-2-1-10, R. Halberg 1-1-1-3, P. Myer 0-0-3-0, K. Patrick 2-4-4-8, E. Morgan 0-0-2-0.

COLFAX (11-6-16-30) – A. Dachel 1-2-5-5, M. Schleusner 1-0-0-2, A. Heidorn 2-2-1-7, K. Meredith 5-0-1-9, S. Henricks 0-2-2-2, B. Buchanan 0-0-3, S. Pretasky 0-0-1-0, H. Sykora 2-0-0-5, E. Hurlburt 0-0-1-0.

THREE
POINTERS: Colfax — A. Dachel 1, A. Heidorn 1, K. Meredith 1.