Elk Mound girls fly past Stanley-Boyd Orioles, lose to Altoona Railroaders
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MOUNDER Ellie Schiszik went up for two of her team-leading 15 points in the Elk Mound girls 48-41 Division 3 regional semifinal win over visiting Stanley-Boyd Friday, February 25. —photo by Joel DeWitt
by Marlys Kruger
Sports Correspondent
ELK MOUND — After finishing the regular season with a 19-7 record and 11-3 in Dunn-St. Croix Conference play, the Elk Mound girls, playing in Division 3, began the WIAA regional tournament as a number two seed in their sectional.
After a first round bye, the Mounders hosted the Stanley-Boyd Orioles, who were a seventh seed, Friday night, February 25 and the Mounders took care of business with a 48-41 win. 24 hours later, the Mounders again played host, this time in the regional final against number three seed Altoona, but after keeping the game close for the first 30 minutes, the Railroaders pulled away for a 49-32 win.
The Lady Mounders finished the 2021-22 season with a 20-8 mark.
Stanley-Boyd
The Orioles entered the Elk Mound gym with a 9-16 record and a 4-10 record in the always strong Cloverbelt West Conference.
In a low scoring contest, the Mounders used a trio of triples in the first half, one from Ellie Schiszik, one from Madisyn Mohr and another by Lydia Levra to help them take a 22-9 lead into the half. Schiszik also scored on a pair of close range shots, Levra added a deuce and Tori Blaskowski added seven points on three buckets and a free throw. Four of the Orioles nine points came from the free throw line.
Stanley-Boyd suddenly found their offense in the second half as they outscored the Mounders 32-26.
Elk Mound saw their 29-17 lead dwindle down to seven points at 45-38 with a minute left. They played enough solid defense to maintain that lead and knocked down eight free throws in the half, three by Schiszik, two from Blaskowski and one each from Brooke Emery, Levra, and Olivia Schreiber to help earn the win.
Schiszik added a deuce and another triple to finish with a team leading 15 points while Blaskowski ended the game with 14 and Levra 10.
ON THE MOVE — Lydia Levra of Elk Mound dribbled toward the basket during a Division 3 regional semifinal against at home Friday, February 25 agaisnt Stanley-Boyd. Levra tallied ten points in the Mounders’ 48-41 victory. —photo by Joel DeWitt
The Mounders canned five shots from downtown and shot a respectable 9-for-17 at the foul stripe.
They managed to hold the Orioles leading scorer Lily Hoel who averaged 14 points a game to just four points. Teagen Becker however, had the hot hand, scoring 17 of her game-high 20 points in the second half with a trio of triples, a deuce, and 6-of-6 free throws.
The Orioles totaled six triples and knocked down 11-of-17 free tosses.
Altoona
Facing a team from yet another different conference, the Mounders took on the Altoona Railroaders who now play in the Middle Border Conference.
After a first round regional win over Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau the previous night, the Railroaders were 16-9 overall and were runners-up in the conference at 11-3 so this appeared to be a game between two equal teams.
Altoona held a 17-14 lead with a minute to go in the first half but the Mounders scored from close range to get closer. A pair of free throws by Altoona upped their lead again but, the Mounders countered with another deuce and a free toss and they were down 21-19. An Elk Mound defender fouled Mya Martinson on a three-point attempt and she made one of her three free throws for a 22-19 Altoona halftime lead.
The score was knotted at 29-29 midway through the second half but the Railroaders began to pull away and were up by seven points with 3:30 to go. They ended up going to the charity stripe quite often to finish off the 17 point win.
Blaskowski tried to keep her team close with seven points including a pair of close range shots and a triple but a Schiszik long ball and a deuce and free throw by Chloe Dummer were the only other points the Mounders scored in the half.
“We battled hard in both tournament games,” Elk Mound coach Jordan Kongshaug said. “Unfortunately, we couldn’t make enough plays down the stretch against Altoona. I’m proud of our team this season,” he added.
Playing without their starter Stella Rhude in both games, Blaskowski and Schiszik had to carry the scoring load as they each scored 12 points and Dummer added five. The Mounders knocked down three triples but struggled at the charity stripe as they hit just 3-of-15 shots.
Altoona was led by Josie Rondestvedt with 14 points. The Railroaders made just one triple but were 18-for-32 at the foul line. They will go on to play number one seed West Salem this Thursday night.
Elk Mound will lose three seniors from the team including Olivia Schreiber, Olivia Schindler, and Kallee Rhude.
“I want to especially thank our three seniors for their great leadership,” Kongshaug said.