EM girls lose first game of season to D-SC foe Durand

By Cara L. Dempski

Cats, even large ones, are known for sneaking silently up on their prey, waiting patiently, and then springing to the attack when their target least suspects it.

In short, if you give a cat an opening, it will run all over you, which is a lesson Elk Mound’s girls basketball team would have been wise to heed on December 8 when it hosted the Durand Panthers. The Durand girls took home a conference win, and in the process handed the Mounders their first loss of the season with a 47-38 finish.

The contest was marked by long periods of time without either team scoring until the last nine minutes of the game, when the Panthers broke the game open on a two-point shot by Ambree Schlosser to give Durand its biggest lead of the match-up at 36-32 and went on to outscore Elk Mound 11-6 the rest of the way.

To be fair, though, Elk Mound’s trouble started at the start of the second half.

“We kind of let them (Durand) stay in the game with some free throws at the start of the second half,” Mounder coach Jordan Kongshaug said. “It let them get some confidence. When you let a good team stay in it, you have an opportunity to get beat.”

The game belonged to the Mounders in the first half, with Morgan Radtke and Allie Weber forcing multiple Durand turnovers to score. The rapid-fire offense Elk Mound presented, coupled with a nine of 17 free throws performance put the Mounders in the lead at the half by a score of 26-17.

But, then Schlosser and her teammates came out in the second half and drew a total of 13 fouls and converted 11 of the 13 foul shots awarded. That, mixed with a big three-point shot from Schlosser at 15:50 in the second pulled the Panthers to within two at 26-24, was when the momentum shifted decidedly in Durand’s direction.

A scant 10 seconds later, Schlosser was fouled on a successful two-point shot, making the score even at 26 before she even took her place at the line. The senior then dropped in her first free throw to give the Panthers their first lead of the game, making the score 27-26 with 15:40 still to play.

To Elk Mound’s credit, they fought to stay in the game, and had two big three-point shots from Weber and Elizabeth Fasbender, but were not able to make up the extra points on free throws as the Panthers slowly, but steadily, pulled away.

In all, Durand outscored the Mounder girls 30-12 in the second half.

In the end, Fasbender led the team with 11 points earned over a field goal, a pair of threes, and three free throws, while Weber trailed her senior teammate by a single point with a trio of three-pointers and a free throw.

Senior Kami King recorded seven points with three field goals and a single free throw, Morgan Radtke put in three field goals from the outside for a total of six after struggling to make it to the basket for much of the game, and Megan Krall and Ashley Gunderson-Morris each grabbed two points to complete the Mounders’ score.

Schlosser was Durand’s leading scorer with 20 points and an 84.6 percent free throw average.

The win put Durand in a first place tie with Boyceville, who beat Colfax 45-42 in overtime that same evening. Both teams are 2-0 in conference play.

Meanwhile, Elk Mound’s overall record is now 3-1 and is 1-1 in the Dunn-St. Croix. The Mounders played in Boyceville last night, December 13 and will host rival Colfax this Friday, December 16 to wrap their pre-holiday schedule.

DURAND 47, ELK MOUND 38
Durand……………..17  30 — 47
Elk Mound…………26  12 — 38

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Durand (11-19-15-47) R. Prissel 0-0-1-0, A. Schlosser 3-11-0-20, S. Baier 2-0-3-4, H. Prissel 3-0-0-6, M. Baier 0-2-1-2, A. Gunderson 0-0-2-0, E. Hansen 2-4-3-8, E. Annis 0-2-1-5, B. Hass 1-0-4-2.

Elk  Mound (7-9-21-38) K. Baier 0-0-1-0, H. Cedarblade 0-0-2-0, A. Weber 0-1-3-10, E. Fasbender 1-3-4-11, M. Krall 0-2-1-2, K. King 3-1-3-7, A. Gunderson-Morris 0-2-1-2, M. Borofka 0-0-2-0, M. Radtke 3-0-4-6.

THREE-POINTERS D — A. Schlosser 1, E. Annis 1; EM — A. Weber 3, E. Fasbender 2.