Lady Mounders get big wins over Toppers and Wolves; mangled by Panthers
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CAREER AND SEASON HIGH— Morgan Radtke hit a new career and season high last Friday evening against Elmwood-Plum City. At 11:58 of the second half Radtke hit her 27 points of the game to end the regular season on a high note. —photo by Amber Hayden
By Amber Hayden
The final week of the regular season was a busy one for the Elk Mound girls’ basketball squad as it took on three conference opponents –the Glenwood City Hilltoppers, the Durand Panthers and the Elmwood/Plum City Wolves – in a five-day span.
In the first game of the week, a rescheduled match up between the Hilltoppers and Elk Mound in Glenwood City, allowed the Mounders to earn their first win of the week by more than 35 points in a 62-24 win.
But the victory dance didn’t last long as Elk Mound hosted Durand, the Dunn-St. Croix co-conference champions, in a Valentine’s Day matchup.
The Panthers took it to the Mounders in true fashion as they put a 39-point hurt on Elk Mound, winning the February 14 contest 66-27.
In the final game of the regular season, Elk Mound welcomed Elmwood/Plum City to its home court last Friday evening, February 15. The Lady Mounders posted a 45-point win.
With its 73-28 victory in the regular-season finale against the Wolves, Elk Mound finished 9-5 in conference and is currently 14-7 overall.
The WIAA Division 3 tournament got underway last evening as the fifth-seeded Mounders hosted #12 Viroqua but did so without the help of senior Brook Plaszcz who is out for the rest of the season due to an ACL tear. A win would send the Mounders on the road to Westby for Friday’s regional semifinal. The regional final is set for Saturday.
Glenwood City
After the snow last week, the Elk Mound ladies waited in the wings to make the trip to Glenwood City last Monday evening, February 11, in a game that had been rescheduled from February 7.
The Mounders looked to bounce back after their loss against Mondovi and an injury to Brook Plaszcz. In true fashion, Elk Mound didn’t let the loss bog them down as they came out to beat Glenwood City by 38 with a score of 62-24.
“It was a good bounce back win for us,” said Mounders’ head coach Jordan Kongshaug. “I thought our defensive effort was very solid tonight.”
Seven of the ten Mounders who played last Monday evening managed to score some points including senior leader Morgan Radtke. Radtke hit 21 points to lead Elk Mound off of seven shots from inside the paint and she was seven-of-twelve at the charity stripe.
Hailey Blaskowski had a career and season high with 16 points against the Toppers, 12 of which came in the first 18 minutes of the contest. Blaskowski hit five doubles and a pair of threes.
Combining for 15 points was Kayla Bridges and Sydney Simpson. Bridges finished with eight points and Simpson had seven including a trey.
“The girls were focused and motivated to play,” Kongshaug explained.
FACE MASK— Ever since Elk Mound’s January 22 game against Colfax, Victoria Fasbender has had to learn how to play with a face mask due to a broken nose. Fasbender finished the night with six points in the Mounders 73-28 win over the Wolves. —photo by Amber Hayden
Adding to the points for Elk Mound were Alana Plaszcz with a double and triple, Sophie Cedarblade contributed three points and Taya Schaefer tacked on two points.
Elk Mound led 34-11 at the half and then outscored the Hilltoppers 28-13 in the second half.
ELK MOUND 62, GLENWOOD CITY 24
Elk Mound..…..…..…….34 28 – 62
Glenwood City….….……11 13 – 24
TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-TP)
Elk Mound — A. Plaszcz 2-0-0-5, S. Simpson 3-0-3-7, H. Blaskowski 7-0-2-16, S. Cedarblade 1-0-0-3, T. Schaefer 1-0-0-2, M. Radtke 7-7-3-21, K. Bridges 4-0-1-8.
Glenwood City — D. Quinn 3-1-1-8, H. Strehlo 2-0-4-4, M. Oehlke 3-0-0-6, D. Fayerweather 0-2-2-2, M. Schutz 1-0-3-2, K. Strong 0-2-0-2.
THREE-POINTERS
EM — A. Plaszcz 1, S. Simpson 1, H. Blaskowski 2, S. Cedarblade 1; GC — D. Quinn 1.
Durand
Hosting Durand last Thursday, February 14, Elk Mound had hopes of slaying the Panthers after an earlier meeting in the season didn’t go in Elk Mound’s favor.
But the Mounders struggled once again to cage Durand as they lost by 39 points and a score of 66-27.
“Durand was a very good team, and really took it to us,” said Kongshaug. “I thought we came out with good energy, but things started to snowball with about four minutes to go in the first half and we were not able to recover.”
Senior Morgan Radtke led Elk Mound with twelve points off of four buckets from underneath and she was four-of-six from the line.
Both halves didn’t go in the Mounders favor as they put up just a mere 14 in the first and 13 in the second.
Sophie Cedarblade, Sydney Simpson and Alana Plaszcz hit their only points of the contest from outside the arc for three points apiece.
Hailey Blaskowski had a trey and single foul shot and Kayla Bridges finished with two points. Four Panthers finished with double digits in scoring led by Julia Hayden’s 15 points.
ELK MOUND 27, DURAND 66
Elk Mound.…..…….14 13 – 27
Durand….….….……31 35 – 66
TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-TP)
Elk Mound — A. Plaszcz 1-0-1-3, S. Simpson 1-0-3-3, H. Blaskowski 1-1-0-4, S. Cedarblade 1-0-3-3, M. Radtke 4-4-0-12, K. Bridges 1-0-4-2.
Durand — J. Hayden 6-0-2-15, E. Hanson 2-5-1-11, H. Prissel 5-2-1-13, L. Sabelko 1-1-0-4, E. Annis 3-1-0-7, S. Dunbar 4-0-3-12, K. Schlosser 1-0-0-2, M. Hurlburt 1-0-2-2.
THREE-POINTERS
EM — A. Plaszcz 1, S. Simpson 1, H. Blaskowski 1, S. Cedarblade 1; D — J. Hayden 3, E. Hanson 2, H. Prissel 1, L. Sabelko 1, S. Dunbar 4.
Elmwood/Plum City
The Mounders capped their long week with a 45-point home victory in its regular-season finale against the Elmwood/Plum City. The Mounders mauled the Wolves 73-28.
“I thought we bounced back well,” said Kongshaug following the previous night loss in Durand. “We played with very good energy and shot it well. It was a good win.”
Morgan Radtke kicked things off for Elk Mound, scoring her first points of the evening with less than thirty seconds off the clock. Radtke went on to finish her evening with a new career and season high of 27 points, 17 of which came in the first half for the senior. Radtke finished her evening with 13 shots from every section of the paint and was one-of-one from the line.
The Mounders managed to keep the Wolves to single digits until Rowan Rupkakas hit a three-point shot to give Elmwood/Plum City 11 points. But the full court pressure from Elk Mound proved to be too much for the Wolves and resulted in three steals and numerous turnovers in the opening minutes of the contest.
Sophie Cedarblade closed in on a new season high, but managed to only tie it with a total of 15 points off five buckets from outside the arc, one of which started of the second half for the Mounders at one minute in.
Both Alana Plaszcz and Victoria Fasbender found themselves an opening from the outside for a trey in each half of the game to finish with six points each.
In the remaining eight minutes of Friday evening’s contest, the Mounders began to filter in members off their bench, but before doing so Kayla Bridges sank four buckets and was one-of-two from the charity stripe.
Adding to the Mounders’ point tally was Sydney Simpson and Kallee Rhude each with a triple and Hailey Blaskowski and Lydia Rubenzer each with two-point baskets.
ELK MOUND 73, ELMWOOD/PLUM CITY 28
Elk Mound.…..…….39 34 – 73
PCE….….….……….13 15 – 28
TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-TP)
Elk Mound — A. Plaszcz 2-0-1-6, S. Simpson 1-0-1-3, H. Blaskowski 1-0-1-2, V. Fasbender 2-0-1-6, S. Cedarblade 5-0-0-15, M. Radtke 13-1-1-27, K. Bridges 4-1-0-9, K. Rhude 1-0-0-3.
ELMWOOD/PLUM CITY — A. Waltz 1-0-3-2, K. Feuker 3-2-3-8, R. Rupakas 3-0-0-7, A. Blanford 0-1-0-1, V. Seipel 3-0-2-9, P. Benson 0-1-0-1
THREE-POINTERS
EM — A. Plaszcz 2, S. Simpson 1, V. Fasbender 2, S. Cedarblade 5, K. Rhude 1; E/PC — R. Rupakas 1, V. Seipel 3.