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In control of their destiny: First-place Lady Vikings beat Mounders

By Cara L. Dempski

ELK MOUND — It is fairly safe to say Joe Doucette’s Viking girls’ basketball team did not play up to its potential the first time it played Elk Mound this season.

That game, played December 14 at Colfax, saw the Mounders take a 48-36 win after capitalizing on the chinks in the Lady Vikings’ armor: mainly, employing an “in your face” press that seemed to stymie the Colfax girls.

The second time around, the Elk Mound girls would not be so lucky.

Colfax seemed to be firing on all eight cylinders January 26 in Elk Mound, and it showed in the final score of 46-39. The win left the Lady Vikings tied atop the Dunn-St. Croix with just over two weeks left to play in the regular season.

The contest also marked the first time the Colfax girls have beaten the Lady Mounders since January 30, 2015.

Doucette was happy with his team’s performance, especially since the girls have started to show some of what he calls “championship qualities.”

“I think we always we knew we had some physical talent, but you know, we figured out some of that really important stuff: character, teamwork and not giving up,” he said during his post-game comments.

The Colfax coach indicated his respect for what Elk Mound head coach Jordan Kongshaug has built during his tenure, but noted his team really wanted to stay in first place. He noted the team’s first-place status has put them in the driver’s seat for controlling their own destiny this season.

For Kongshaug’s part, he was glad his team executed the plan set out for them, even if it did not result in a win.

“It was a good high school basketball game,” he began. “To start the second half, we couldn’t get a bucket to go and dug ourselves into a hole that we couldn’t get out of. I give Colfax credit, they played a good basketball game.”

The Mounders got on the board in the first minute with a big three-point shot from Madysen Borofka, but Colfax’s Kameri Meredith responded with a pair of buckets to give the Vikings’ their first lead of 4-3 with 16:10 on the clock.

Elk Mound took back the lead with a basket from Morgan Radtke who drew a plus one, but did not sink the shot, leaving the score 7-6, but the Vikings got right back into things with a three-pointer to go up 9-7.

Radtke dropped in a field goal at 10:06 after taking the feed from Borofka, who stole the ball from Colfax’s Addy Olson to tie the game at nine apiece. Both teams traded scoring possessions for the remainder of the half, but it was the Vikings on top 23-22 when the buzzer sounded for a break.

The Lady Vikings opened the second half with a six-point run in the opening three minutes to seize an eight-point lead before Radtke stepped up to the line for the home team to drain a pair of charity throws.

But Colfax just kept chipping away, and try as they might for the win, Elk Mound could not narrow the visiting team’s lead any further than three points for the remainder of the game.

Meredith led the night’s scoring with 21 points spread over eight field goals, and a pair of free throws. Rachel Scharlau put up 10 points for Colfax, Savannah Henricks scored six, Alyssa Dachel and Morgan Schleusner tied with three each, Olson accounted for two, and Emma Hurlburt hit the first of two from the line.

Elk Mound was led by Radtke with 18 points, Hannah Cedarblade added seven, Ashley Gunderson-Morris scored four, Allie Weber and Madysen Borofka picked up a three-point shot each, and Kayla Bridges and Crista Sweeney each scored two.

Colfax remains one of two teams with 9-1 records in the Dunn-St. Croix, the other being Durand. While Elk Mound is tied with Mondovi at 7-3 for third place.

The Vikings played Ladysmith at home January 30, and hosted Elmwood/Plum City February 1. They hit the road to Glenwood City February 6, and Mondovi February 9.

Elk Mound heads to Spring Valley February 1, Elmwood/Plum City February 6, and Glenwood City February 9.

COLFAX 46, ELK MOUND 39
Colfax………………………………23  24 — 46
Elk Mound………………………..22  17 — 39

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Colfax (15-12-12-46) — A. Dachel 1-0-0-3, M. Schleusner 0-3-2-3, K. Meredith 8-2-1-21, S. Henricks 2-2-3-6, A. Olson 0-2-0-2, R Scharlau 4-2-2-10, E. Hurlburt 0-1-4-1.

Elk Mound (13-11-20-39) — M. Borofka 1-0-5-3, H. Cedarblade 1-5-3-7, A. Weber 1-0-4-3, H. Blaskowski 0-0-1-0, A. Gunderson-Morris 1-2-4-4, M. Radtke 7-4-0-18, K. Bridges 1-0-1-2, C. Sweeney 1-0-2-2.

THREE-POINTERS
C — A. Dachel 1, K. Meredith 3; EM — M. Borofka 1, A. Weber 1.