Round 1: Elk Mound gals take road win over Colfax

By Cara L. Dempski

COLFAX — Two nights after the Mounder and Viking boys’ teams played out a rivalry match at Colfax High School, it was the girls’ turn.

Elk Mound and Colfax finally met for the first time this season, after their initial meeting in Elk Mound was postponed twice on account of poor weather conditions. If crowd size and game intensity are indicators, then boys may play the game, but fans of both teams clearly think the girls play it better.

The Mounders and Vikings girls played February 2 to a gym that had nearly 50 percent more fans in the bleachers than the boys’ game on January 31. Elk Mound came away with a 56-43 win based almost completely on their second-half scoring after Colfax found a spark just before halftime and trailed by three, 20-17, at the intermission.

Colfax head coach Joe Doucette said “I like that we tried hard. At halftime, I thought we were in pretty good shape, but we spun our wheels.”

The Viking coach complimented Elk Mound, saying they moved the ball and shot very well. Doucette also expressed pleasure in the return of senior Ally Heidorn, who sat out several games after suffering a concussion.

Elk Mound coach Jordan Kongshaug knew the Mounders would not have an easy game at Colfax.

“We shot it (the ball) well, and we knew we would need to,” Kongshaug explained. “They’re (Colfax) not going to give you anything easy defensively.”

The Mounders made some mental mistakes that Kongshaug said he will be addressing in the coming weeks, but were able to make a series of outside shots in the second half to extend their lead. 

Though the Mounders ultimately won the game, it was Colfax’s Kameri Meredith who was the first to score in the game. She pushed the ball over the rim and it dropped through for the first two points on the scoreboard before a full minute passed in the opening half.

Elk Mound’s Kami King answered with a three-point shot to give Elk Mound its first lead of the game at 16:37. Meredith drew a trip to the free throw line at 14:56, and sunk both charity shots to put the Vikes up 4-3. 

The Mounders pushed ahead again before Alyssa Dachel fired in a three-pointer to tie things up at 8 with 13:29 left in the half. The two teams continued to trade scoring possessions until Colfax trailed by only two at the 10:02 mark. 

Elk Mound extended its lead for a score of 17-11 when Alyssa Dachel stepped up to the line and put in a free throw after the Vikings had gone over six minutes without scoring. Dachel’s free shot and three-point goal with less than 30 seconds to go before halftime narrowed the scoring gap to 20-17 with Elk Mound in the lead.

The orange and black went up another four points in the first 76 seconds of the second half to lead 24-17 and had raced out to a 10-point lead with 9:40 still to play. Heidorn tried to light a fire under the Vikings with a pair of second-half threes, but Colfax was unable to capitalize on the slight momentum shift after each shot.

In the end, Elk Mound’s care in handling the ball after pulling out to a 13-point lead was what helped them win the game.

Meredith continued her strong freshman season with the Vikings by scoring a team-leading 13 points for the game, but the top game score belonged to Elk Mound’s King, who edged Meredith out with 14 points of her own. 

Heidorn scored 12 points in her first post-injury contest, Dachel picked up nine points, Taylor Irwin was good for four, Bryana Buchanan earned three, and Emma Hurlburt scored on a free throw.

On the Elk Mound side, Allie Weber reeled in 11 points, Elizabeth Fasbender provided 10, Ashley Gunderson-Morris and Morgan Radtke each picked up seven, Kaitlyn Baier scored four, and Cedarblade scored three.

ELK MOUND 56, COLFAX 43
Elk Mound………………………..20  36 — 56
Colfax………………………………17  26 — 43

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Elk Mound (11-10-15-56) H. Cedarblade 0-0-2-3, A. Weber 1-0-2-11, E. Fasbender 2-3-3-10, K. King 3-2-1-14, M. Radtke 3-1-4-7, K. Baier 1-2-0-4, G. Peterson 0-0-1-0, A. Gunderson-Morris 1-2-2-7.

Colfax (5-9-15-43) A. Dachel 1-1-4-9, K. Meredith 4-5-1-13, S. Henricks 0-1-0-1, B. Buchanan 0-0-0-3, E. Hurlburt 0-1-4-1.

THREE-POINTERS EM — H. Cedarblade 1, A. Weber 3, E. Fasbender 1, K. King 2, A. Gunderson-Morris 1; C — A. Dachel 2, A. Heidorn 4, T. Irwin 1, B. Buchanan 1.