EM girls drop pair of non-conference contests, win in Spring Valley

By Cara L. Dempski

The Elk Mound girls’ basketball team started 2017 with a bang, playing one game every other day, starting with the Mounders’ first day back to school after the holiday break.

The Mounders traveled to Altoona Tuesday, January 3 to take on the Altoona Railroaders and came away on the losing end of a 46-37 score in overtime. The team took Wednesday off, but then traveled to Spring Valley for a conference contest on January 5.

Elk Mound trampled the Cardinals with a 68-42 that put the Mounders a two-way tie for second with Boyceville in the conference. The Mounders and Bulldogs are currently 3-1 in league play just a game back of front runner Durand (4-0, 7-1).

The Elk Mound squad capped the busy week at home Saturday afternoon, January 7 against unbeaten LaCrosse Aquinas, the top-ranked ladies team in Division 4. The Mounders stayed with the Blugolds throughout the first half and trailed by only one point, 24-25, at the intermission. But Aquinas pulled away in the second half to win the contest, 59-40.

The 6-4 Mounders played in Plum City last night, travel to Glenwood City Thursday before returning home to host the Colfax Vikings next Tuesday, January 17 in a make-up game of the December 16 contest that was postponed due to weather.

Altoona

It can sometimes be hard for coaches to speak critically of their teams, but they are used to questions about both the good and bad aspects of each game. 

Which is to say, it is not surprising that Elk Mound’s head coach, Jordan Kongshaug, was critical of the Mounders’ performance in Altoona on January 3. 

“We had a shot at the end of regulation to win it (the game),” Kongshaug said. “But we couldn’t convert.”

Kongshaug went on to state the Elk Mound girls shot the ball poorly and had too many mistakes at key points in the game to pull off a win.

Still, the Mounders’ did manage to push the game into an overtime period when both Elk Mound and the Railroaders finished in a 35-all tie at the end of regulation. Kongshaug indicated Altoona hit a few key shots in OT to take the win.

Senior Elizabeth Fasbender and sophomore Morgan Radkte led the Mounders’ charge, with Fasbender taking credit for 11 points and Radtke dropping in 10. Another sophomore, Ashley Gunderson-Morris, put in three field goals and a free throw for seven points, junior Allie Weber picked up six with a pair of three-pointers, and Hannah Cedarblade was good for a single shot outside the arc.

Railroader senior Kristi Springer earned the game’s highest score with 16 points.

ELK MOUND 37, ALTOONA 46
Elk Mound…………………….19  16  2 — 37
Altoona………………………..15  20 11 — 46

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Elk Mound (11-6-16-37) K. Baier 0-0-1-0, H. Cedarblade 0-0-1-3, A. Weber 0-0-5-6, E. Fasbender 3-5-2-11, A. Gunderson-Morris 3-1-2-7, M. Borofka 0-0-2-0, M. Radtke 5-0-3-10.

Altoona (10-14-14-46) L. Berseth 0-0-3-9, J. Priest 2-5-2-9, K. Harris 0-2-1-2, E. Mickelson 1-1-1-3, L. Mickelson 1-2-3-7, K. Springer 6-4-2-16, C. Legge 0-0-2-0.

THREE-POINTERS EM — H. Cedarblade 1, A. Weber 2; A — L. Berseth 3, L. Mickelson 1.

Spring Valley 

Coach Kongshaug said the win over Spring Valley was a big one and made for a fun night.

“We played with a lot of energy, and we were able to control the tempo of the game,” Kongshaug explained. “We got contributions from every girl.”

The Mounders dropped in nearly three times the number of shots the Cardinals did to take a 42-15 lead by the end of the first half. Things improved for the Cardinals in the second half when they scored 25 points to Elk Mound’s 26, but the damage done in the opening 18 minutes was too much for Spring Valley to overcome.

Sophomore center Morgan Radtke was the top-scoring player for the game, dropping in 14 points for the Mounders. Radtke’s classmate, Ashley Gunderson-Morris, nabbed second-place scoring honors for Elk Mound with nine points of her own.

Allie Weber and Gracie Peterson contributed eight points each, Hannah Cedarblade and Kami King were credited with seven points, and Kaitlyn Baier and Elizabeth Fasbender each scored five points. Riley Radtke and Megan Krall rounded out Elk Mound’s scoring with Radtke picking up four points and Krall tacking on one.

Cardinals Camryn Wegener and Alyxis Johansen shared top honors for Spring Valley with seven points each.

SPRING VALLEY 42, ELK MOUND 68
Spring Valley……………………..17  25 — 42
Elk Mound…………………………42  24 — 68

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Spring Valley (9-9-21-42) T. Huntress 2-0-1-4, C. Wegener 2-3-1-7, T. Cipriano 1-0-2-2, S. Bune 1-1-2-6, S. Kaveh 1-0-4-5, B. O’Brien 0-0-3-3, K. Schreiber 0-2-3-4, A. Johansen 3-1-2-7, G. Larsen 1-0-1-2.

Elk Mound (20-18-18-68) K. Baier 2-1-1-5, H. Cedarblade 2-3-2-7, A. Weber 2-1-2-8, E. Fasbender 1-0-3-5, M. Krall 0-1-1-1, R. Radtke 1-2-3-4, K. King 3-1-0-7, G. Peterson 4-0-3-8, A. Gunderson-Morris 2-5-1-9, M. Borofka 0-0-1-0, M. Radtke 5-4-1-14.

THREE-POINTERS SV — S. Bune 1, S. Kaveh 1, B. O’Brien 1; EM — A. Weber 1, E. Fasbender 1.

Aquinas

Coach Kongshaug said the Mounder girls gave a great effort, but it was not enough to pull off an upset win over the number one ranked Blugolds.

“Aquinas is a great team, and their defensive pressure and length gave our team a lot of problems,” Kongshaug stated. “We needed to shoot the ball better in the second half to give ourselves a chance to win.”

Center Morgan Radtke again led Elk Mound, this time with 12 points. Senior Kami King logged seven points with two field goals and a three-pointer, and Elizabeth Fasbender chalked up six by hitting a field goal and going four for four on charity shots.

Madysen Borofka logged four points, Kaitlyn Baier, Megan Krall and Ashley Gunderson-Morris all kicked in three, and Gracie Peterson rounded out the score with a pair of free throws.

Lexi Donarski, a freshman guard for the Blugolds, led the game with 15 points.

AQUINAS 59, ELK MOUND 40
Aquinas……………………………25  34 — 59
Elk Mound………………………..24  16 — 40

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Aquinas (13-12-18-59) J. Peterson 2-0-1-10, N. Reuteman 0-0-1-0, K. Lichter 0-0-1-0, S. Nickelatti 0-2-1-2, L. Donarski 6-0-3-15, W. Rezin 1-2-2-13, M. Collins 1-4-3-9, K. Steiner 1-4-2-6, M. Miller 2-0-3-4, S. Ion 0-0-1-0.

Elk Mound (10-11-17-40) K. Baier 1-1-1-3, A. Weber 0-0-3-0, E. Fasbender 1-4-2-6, M. Krall 0-0-2-3, K. King 2-0-0-7, G. Peterson 0-2-1-2, A. Gunderson-Morris 1-1-4-3, M. Borofka 0-1-2-4, M. Radtke 5-2-2-12.

THREE-POINTERS A — J. Peterson 2, L. Donarski 1, W. Rezin 3, M. Collins 1; EM — M. Krall 1, K. King 1, M. Borofka 1.