Glenwood City girls down Frederic in overtime, fall short against Eleva-Strum
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The Glenwood City girls’ basketball squad is suddenly playing with some confidence and fire.
The result was the team’s first three-game winning streak since the 2015-16 season when Glenwood finished 21-3 and placed second in the Dunn-St. Croix.
Building on a win at Bruce to close 2023, the Lady Hilltoppers opened the new year with a thrilling 51-50 non-conference overtime win at home against Frederic Tuesday, January 2.
Using the momentum created with that victory, Glenwood
City knocked off rival Boyceville, 41-39, in another nail-biter played on the Hilltoppers’ home court Thursday, January 4 (see story elsewhere in this issue).
Playing in its third home game of the week, Glenwood City saw its win streak snapped Saturday afternoon, January 6 against Eleva-Strum. The Cardinals pulled away in the second half and defeated the Hilltoppers 43-33.
Glenwood City, 4-10 overall and 2-3 in league play, has a pair of daunting conference contests on its slate this week. The Toppers were in Colfax last evening (January 9) and host unbeaten and D-SC leader Elk Mound this Friday, January 12.
Frederic
The Toppers had one of their best first-half performances of the season when they hosted Frederic in a non-conference affair January 2 as part of a doubleheader with the boys who welcomed Prairie Farm.
In the early game, the Glenwood City girls took a 28-20 lead into the intermission thanks to a balanced offensive attack that saw six players score points and included three of the squad’s four three pointers in the game. Senior Libby Wagner and junior Jenna McCarthy put in eight points each in the opening half. Wagner had a pair of threes while McCarthy sank all four of her foul shots. Freshman Tori Ohman and junior Izzy Davis added four points apiece in the first half with Emma Bliese sinking a triple.
But, Kendall Lillehaug and Grace Nelson rallied the Vikings in the second half. Lillehaug sank 11 of her 16 points in the second half and overtime period while Nelson scored eight of her 14 points in that span. Taylor Hansford finished with 12 which included a pair of triples in the first half.
Ohman scored seven of the Toppers’ 14 second-half points but Frederic added 22 in that half to force overtime as regulation play ended with the score knotted at 42.
The Toppers edged the Vikings nine to eight in the extra frame to take the 51-50 win.
Wagner led the Toppers with 14 points, Ohman added 11, Davis chipped in for nine including five in overtime and McCarthy finished with eight.
“I knew that Frederic was going to be a win that was there (to take), but the girls would have to work hard for 36 minutes in order to achieve the win. The players did exactly that, even in overtime,” said Kirsten Konder, Glenwood City head coach.
“Lillehaug is a stellar athlete, competing at the state track meet and being the star of their volleyball team that made it to sectional finals this year,” she continued.
“Opal Voeltz limited her to minimal points and has played some of the best defense that I have seen her play in the last two seasons,” added Konder.
“Our captains Libby Wagner and Izzy Davis were true leaders that night, keeping the team calm within the final minutes of regulation and into the overtime,” she added.
Eleva-Strum
Playing in its third home contest in five days and another doubleheader with their male counterparts, the Glenwood City girls looked to extend their winning streak to four games when they hosted Eleva-Strum Saturday, January 6.
It wasn’t to be however. Despite a close game throughout, the Cardinals outlasted the Toppers in the second half to claim the 43-33 win.
Davis scored ten points in the first half as the Toppers trailed the Cardinal by just three at halftime, 20-17.
After hitting four triples in the first half, Eleva Strum pounded the paint in the latter half, led by Avery Glenz who netted ten of her game high 17 points in that crucial second-half effort that saw the Cardinals outscore the Toppers 23 to 16 to secure the ten-point victory.
Davis added six, second-half points to finish with 16 to lead the Hilltoppers. Ohman finished with five while Libby Wagner, Kaylin Brandt, Brooklynn Brite and Emma Bliese each tallied a deuce.