Lady Toppers defeat Ellsworth Panthers in final seconds, lose to Durand Panthers
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By Missy Klatt
Sports Correspondent
The Glenwood City girls’ basketball team played the Panthers twice this past week.
First, the Lady Toppers hosted the Ellsworth Panthers last Tuesday, December 3 where they played to an exciting finish, winning the game 49-48 on a last second basket by junior Maddie Oehlke.
Two days later, Glenwood City looked to stretch its conference and season win streak to two when the team traveled to Durand on Thursday, December 5 but a stingy Panthers’ defense held the Toppers’ offense in check throughout as Durand won a lopsided affair 67-29.
The 2-2 Lady Toppers played host to local rival, the Boyceville Bulldogs, last night, Tuesday, December 10, and will be traveling to Colfax this Friday, December 13 where they will face a strong Vikings’ team.
Ellsworth
In the game against Ellsworth on December 3, the Toppers were keeping things pretty tight against the larger school with an aggressive defense.
As it was, the Toppers struck first on offense when Makiah Schutz hit for two at the low post.
The score was soon tied at six before the Panthers went on a nine-point scoring run in the form of three three-pointers from Ellsworth’s Kaitlyn Nugent.
Maddie Oehlke got the Hilltoppers back on the board when she sank a shot under the bucket for two.
As play continued, the Toppers pulled to within two points when Delanie Fayerweather hit a three pointer to make the score 17-19 in favor of the visiting Panthers.
The score remained close with the first half winding down but Ellsworth held the edge.
With about thirty seconds left in the half Fayerweather drove down the court for two to once again bring the score to within two points at 25-27. However, the Panthers had the last bucket of the first half with another a three pointer to give them a five point, 30-25, lead.
The second half started with Ellsworth putting the first six points on the scoreboard before Schutz added two for the Toppers.
The Panthers then tacked on two more before the Hilltoppers went on a six-point run thanks to two buckets from Oehlke and another from Schutz off a rebound.
At this point things were getting a bit fast and a bit sloppy. The girls settled down and the intense competition continued.
With about seven minutes on the clock and Ellsworth leading 42-37, the Hilltoppers’ Yazmin Leandro-Mendez banked in a three pointer to pull Glenwood City within two points of the lead.
The Panthers countered by going four-for-four at the free throw line, increasing their lead to six at 46-40.
Then with just under five minutes left on the clock, Oehlke hit a long jumper for two.
After the Panthers then failed to score on their next possession and play was back down at the Topper basket, Glenwood City proceeded to miss several shots under its basket until Bella Rassbach grabbed the rebound and went up for a successful two points, narrowing the Panther lead to just two again.
With several turnovers from the Lady Tops, things weren’t looking good but fortunately the Panthers were only able to capitalize once during the last four minutes of the game with a drive to the hoop with just under two and a half minutes to play. This now gave the Panthers a 48-44 lead.
The Toppers, however continued to play hard and with about 40 seconds left on the clock, Fayerweather hit a long three to pull within one of the Panthers.
The Panthers again failed to do anything with their next possession and with 12.3 seconds left in the game the Toppers were ready to inbound the ball under the Panthers basket. A series of quick passes brought the ball up court where Fayerweather found Oehlke on the left side of the basket where she sank a 4-foot shot with about one second left to give the Toppers a thrilling 49-48 win.
After the game a happy head coach, Dean Fayerweather, enthused, “It was a heck of a win, the girls didn’t quit.”
He went on to say, “I went in and said you have to have hustle and have effort tonight because it’s a bigger school and they have two good shooters.”
Coach Fayerweather stated that they tried a new defense, a triangle and two and it worked. Fayerweather remarked that his team is very happy and he is also very happy. For an effort of achievers, they really worked hard tonight.
Maddie Oehlke, with her game winning heroics, finished with 16 points to lead Glenwood City. Makiah Schutz chipped in 12 and Fayerweather added ten.
Durand’s Kaitlyn Nugent topped all scorers with 20 points including three triples.
Glenwood City (49)
FG-FT-F-T: Rassbach 2-2-2-6, Oehlke 7-2-0-16, Ullom 0-0-0-0, Thompson 0-0-1-0, Leandro-Mendez 1-2-1-5, Strong 0-0-1-0, Fayerweather 4-0-3-10, Schutz 5-2-0-12. Total 19-8-8-49.
Ellsworth (48)
FG-FT-F-T: Carlson 1-0-0-3, Peterson 0-0-0-0, Nugent 8-1-1-20, Bach 2-3-4-14, Puhrmann 1-0-1-2, Giese 3-0-1-6, Vogel 0-0-1-0, Mallen 0-0-0-0, Earney 0-3-4-3. Total 15-7-12-48.
Glenwood City….25……24 – 49
Ellsworth…30..….18 – 48
3-point goals: Glenwood City: Fayerweather 2, Leandro-Mendez. Ellsworth: Nugent 3, Carlson, Bach 2.
Durand
Against the Durand Panthers last Thursday, December 5, the story line was quite different.
According Coach Fayerweather, the Lady Toppers were in it but down by nine at the half with the Panthers leading 27-18. However, Delanie Fayerweather and Maddie Oehlke were in foul trouble going into the second half.
In the second half, Durand came out and pressed with their run-and-jump defense and before they knew it, the Toppers were down by 20.
Unfortunately, the Hilltoppers couldn’t recover from such a setback. The Panthers scored 40 points in the half compared to only 11 from the Lady Tops. With the final score reading Durand 67 and Glenwood City 29.
Coach Fayerweather did praise the play of Makiah Schutz at post. Schutz was also the Toppers’ leading scorer with 14 points.
McKenna Hurlburt finished with 19 points, Leah Sebelko had 14 and Madisyn Kilboten tallied ten to lead the Durand offense.
Glenwood City (29)
FG-FT-F-T: Rassbach 0-1-2-1, Oehlke 2-3-5-7, Ullom 0-0-1-0, Thompson 0-1-2-1, Leandro-Mendez 0-0-1-0, Strong 2-0-0-4, Fayerweather 0-2-3-2, Schutz 7-0-3-14, Buttles 0-0-0-0. Total 11-7-17-29.
Durand (67)
FG-FT-F-T: Besmer 0-0-0-0, Sand 1-0-2-2, Radle 0-0-1-0, Kiboten 4-2-1-10, Pophal 0-0-0-0, Auth 1-0-2-2, Weiss 0-0-2-0, Sabelko 5-3-4-14, Brantner 2-0-0-4, Carothers 2-1-1-6, Kitchner 1-0-1-3, Breidung 0-0-0-0, Pickering 3-0-0-7, Hurlburt 7-5-1-19. Total 26-11-14-67.
Glenwood City………………………18 11 – 29
Durand…………………………………27 40 – 67
3-point goals: Durand: Sabelko, Carothers, Kitchner, Pickering.