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Mounder girls stomp Panthers to move to within half a game of conference lead; cage Bulldogs

By Cara L. Dempski

The Elk Mound girls’ basketball team may, or may not, have been out for revenge against Durand in the pair’s second regular-season meeting after the Lady Panthers slammed the Mounders in the first go round.

If revenge was on the Mounders’ minds, then they definitely avenged the earlier loss during their January 24 road trip with a convincing 63-41 win on the Panthers’ home court. Elk Mound handed Durand its first Dunn-St. Croix loss of the season in that Tuesday contest and is currently one-half game behind the Panthers (8-1, 11-2) for a share of the Dunn St. Croix girls’ basketball lead.

Elk Mound hosted Boyceville last Friday, January 27, just three nights after the Lady Bulldogs lost their third D-SC game of the season to Colfax on January 24. The Lady Mounders saddled the Bulldogs with a second consecutive conference defeat, beating Boyceville for the second time this season, 55-37. 

The Mounders, currently 7-1 in conference play and 11-4 overall, kept pace with the Panthers, who demolished Plum City/Elmwood last Friday.

Elk Mound, who opened a three-game road trip in Hammond against non-conference foe St. Croix Central last evening (January 31) will tangle with Colfax on the Vikings’ home court tomorrow, February 2 for the first match-up this season between the close conference rivals before  turning around the next day to play in Plum City against the Plum City/Elmwood Wolves. The Mounders will then finish out the regular season with four consecutive home game beginning next Tuesday, February 7 with Spring Valley.

Durand

The last time the Panthers and Mounders met, it was December 8 in Elk Mound, and the Panthers handed last season’s D-SC champions a 47-38 loss. Durand remained undefeated in the meantime, and Elk Mound has not lost a conference match-up since that game.

When the Mounders took on the Panthers for the second time this season, it was the team in orange and black that copped the win. Elk Mound’s Elizabeth Fasbender held the game’s top individual score after contributing 17 points to the Mounders’ 63-41 win over Durand.

Coach Jordan Kongshaug and his team held the Panthers in check, leading to the hope the Mounders can run the table for the rest of the season. 

“I thought we played a complete game, and we were happy to come out on top of a very solid Durand team,” Kongshaug said. “Hopefully, we can keep our momentum going during the stretch run of this season.”

Morgan Radtke saw another good game, coming in just behind Fasbender with 14 points spread out over six field goals and a pair of charity shots. Allie Weber followed with 12 points after a field goal, a pair of threes, and four free throws.

Kami King contributed nine points with a trio of both field goals and free throws, Ashley Gunderson-Morris picked up seven points with three field goals and a free shot, Hannah Cedarblade put in a single outside shot for three, and Madysen Borofka picked up the final point on a free throw.

Durand sophomore Emily Annis led the Panther offense with 13 points.

ELK MOUND 63, DURAND 41
Elk Mound………………………..33  30 — 63
Durand……………………………..23  18 — 41

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Elk Mound (16-19-13-63) H. Cedarblade 0-0-1-3, A. Weber 1-4-2-12, E. Fasbender 3-8-4-17, K. King 3-3-2-9, A. Gunderson-Morris 3-1-1-7, M. Borofka 0-1-1-1, M. Radtke 6-2-2-14.

Durand (11-11-16-41) A. Schlosser 1-5-2-9, S. Baier 1-0-4-5, E. Hansen 1-2-4-11, B. Myers 2-0-2-4, E. Annis 5-0-1-13, B. Hass 1-4-3-6.

THREE-POINTERS EM — H. Cedarblade 1, A. Weber 2, E. Fasbender 1; D — S. Baier 1, E. Annis 1.

Boyceville

Coach Kongshaug said the Mounder girls did not play their best game against Boyceville last Friday, and he credited the Bulldogs’ zone defense with disrupting Elk Mound’s flow.

“We didn’t play our best, but I want to give Boyceville credit. They really played well,” Kongshaug stated. “It wasn’t a bad game, but they did some good things to disrupt our flow.”

Elk Mound senior Kami King put the Mounders on the board with a three-point shot halfway between the baseline and the top of the key before seven seconds passed in the game. The shot seemed to set the tone for Elk Mound in the first half. 

The Mounders used the first few minutes of the game to push out to an eight-point lead before the Bulldogs tacked up two points of their own at the 13:07 mark. The next three baskets belonged to Boyceville, who took the lead on a three-point shot from Brooklyn Hellmann at 10:27 to briefly lead the game, 9-8.

Elizabeth Fasbender stepped to the free throw line after drawing a blocking foul on a successful field goal. She added another point from the line to make the score 11-11 with 8:40 to go in the opening half.

Junior Hannah Cedarblade sent in back-to-back threes to put Elk Mound back in front 17-13 at the 7:28 mark. The Mounders used Cedarblade’s spark to push out to a 32-23 lead when both teams broke for the half. 

The Bulldogs and Mounders traded scoring opportunities for a few minutes to open the second half, leading to a score of 38-25 at 15:24. Elk Mound then started to find a path to the inside on nearly every possession and extended its lead to 47-33 with approximately nine minutes to play.

The Mounders used the final nine minutes of the game to stave off the Bulldogs while grinding out a few more shots to end the game on the high end of the 55-37 final score.

Elk Mound had four girls earn double-digit scores against the Bulldogs. Sophomore center Morgan Radtke led the team with 16 points, King logged 14, Cedarblade recorded 11, and Fasbender scored 10. Kaitlyn Baier and Allie Weber each scored two points in the game.

Boyceville’s Madysn Riek led the Bulldog girls with 12 points.

BOYCEVILLE 37, ELK MOUND 55
Boyceville…………………………23  14 — 37
Elk Mound………………………..32  23 — 55

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Boyceville (12-4-10-37) C. Malean 4-2-2-10, M. Kuhn 1-0-1-5, M. Riek 6-0-2-12, E. Harnisch 0-0-2-0, B. Hellmann 1-2-0-4, R. Prestrud 0-0-3-3, B. Booth 0-0-0-3.

Elk Mound (15-7-10-55) H. Cedarblade 1-0-1-11, A. Weber 1-0-3-2, E. Fasbender 2-3-2-10, K. King 4-0-2-14, M. Radtke 6-4-2-16.

THREE-POINTERS R. Prestrud 1, B. Booth 1, M. Kuhn 1; EM — H. Cedarblade 3, E. Fasbender 1, K. King 2.