Elk Mound girls overwhelm playoff opponents, repeat as regional champs

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ELK MOUND — The Elk Mound girls’ basketball team made a difficult task look easy.

The Lady Mounders overwhelmed a pair of playoff opponents from the South Central Conference in back-to-back contests at home late last week to claim their second consecutive WIAA Division 3 regional championship.

Elk Mound, the top seed and unbeaten champion of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference, hosted #9 Adams-Friendship, a 55-39 winner versus #8 Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau in the opening round, in a regional semifinal game Friday, February 23. The Mounder girls, who had a quarterfinal’s bye, nearly doubled up the Green Devils in the first half as the led 35-18 at the intermission and went on too post an easy 67-37 victory.

The very next night, Elk Mound welcomed Wisconsin Dells, the fourth seed,  in a Saturday battle for the regional title. After a slow start that saw the game knotted at 22 entering halftime, the Mounder defense allowed the Lady Chiefs just ten second-half points as Elk Mound rolled to a 51-32 victory to claim a second straight regional plaque.

“I am so very proud of this team,” said Elk Mound head coach Jordan Kongshaug following Saturday’s outcome. “Winning a regional championship is an amazing accomplishment.”

The victory earned the 26-0 Mounders a berth in the sectional tournament.

Elk Mound, who was ranked fourth in the final Division 3 state coaches poll, will face La Crosse Aquinas (23-3), ranked seventh in that same poll, in a sectional semifinal contest to be played in the Wanek Center at Arcadia High School this Thursday, February 29. The winner will advance to the sectional final at Amery High School on Saturday, March 2 versus the winner of the other semifinal game between Middle Border combatants Baldwin-Woodville and Somerset, who were the top two seeds in the upper half of the  sectional bracket. The champion will earn a berth to the girls’ state basketball championships to be played at the Resch Center in Green Bay March 7-9.

Adams-Friendship

A balanced scoring attack that saw 11 Elk Mound players put scores in the book coupled with a stifling defensive effort helped the Mounders claim a comfortable 67-37 victory over visiting Adams-Friendship (6-20) in last Friday night’s Division 3 girls’ regional semifinal contest.

“I was a good start to the tournament,” stated Coach Kongshaug. “We played solid defense early and we were able to score in transition.”

In the opening half, the Mounders bounded to a 35-18 lead at the intermission as senior Lydia Levra lead the way with seven points on a triple and a pair of deuces. Fellow seniors Carly Mohr and Chloe Dummer and junior Ellie Schiszik each chipped in for five points, junior Allie Roder and sophomore Allie Robel had four apiece, sophomore Belle Kongshaug nailed a three and junior Hailey Meyer put in a basket to account for Elk Mound first-half scoring.

Robel picked up the scoring mantle in the second half when she netted ten of her game-high 14 points. Levra tallied a pair of hoops to finish with 11 points. Mohr and Dummer finished the game with eight each while Roder, who hit a second half three along with Kendra Garnett, and Schiszik, who fouled out, both tallied seven as Elk Mound once again outpointed the Green Devils, 32-19, in the final 18 minutes to take a 30-point win.

Elk Mound finished the game with four triples and made 7-of-12 at the free throw line.

In addition, Elk Mound pulled down 30 rebounds, four each by Robel, Roder, Mohr and Meyer and three from Levra and Schiszik. Schiszik and Levra led the team with four assists each while Levra was tops in steals with five.

Maya Kautzer and Evelyn Shaw led the Green Devils, who placed fifth out of six teams in their conference, with 13 points each. Adams-Friendship also finished with four long balls and went 9-for-12 at the charity stripe.

Wisconsin Dells

Facing their second South Central Conference team in as many nights, Elk Mound found itself in a tight contest early on when they hosted Wisconsin Dells, a 19-game winner and second-place conference finisher, for the Division 3 regional crown Saturday, February 24.

Junior Ellie Schiszik made a three, a deuce and was 4-for-4 at the free throw line for nine points and senior Lydia Levra hit a pair of three pointers in the first half and had eight points to help Elk Mound keep pace with Wisconsin Dells who got ten points including a pair of threes from Ashiya Hopkins and five points each by Natalie Field and Natalie Backhaus.

The halftime score was tied at 22.

In the second half, the Mounder once again tightened the defensive screws and held the Cheifs to just ten points the rest of the way.

Meanwhile, the Allie’s, Robel and Roder, along with Schiszik got the offense rolling as the trio combined for 24 (eight points each) of the Mounders 29, second-half points en route to the 51-32 win.

Schiszik led all players with 17 points, Roder and Levra finished with ten each and Robel tallied nine. Robel and Roder were tops in rebounds with six each and steals with three apiece. Levra had four of the team’s seven assists.

Elk Mound made five treys and went 16-for-20 at the line.

Hopkins and Backhaus each tallied ten points to lead Wisconsin Dells while Field finished with seven. The Chiefs had three triples but took just nine free throws of which they made five.