Lady Vikings claim regional title with wins over Unity and Cadott

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

Heading into the WIAA regional tournament as the number 3 seed, the Colfax girls received a first-round bye, then hosted the number 6 seed Unity Eagles Friday, February 24.

After posting a 46-29 win over the Eagles, they traveled to Cadott the following night to face off against the number 2 seed Cadott Hornets. Cadott was 20-5 overall and 11-3 in the highly competitive Cloverbelt West Conference and had beaten Cameron the night before 65-42.

On paper, the number 2 seed, playing on their home court, usually has the advantage, but as we all know, the game is played on the court, not on paper and with the stands packed with Viking fans, the Colfax girls used their defense to shut down the Hornet’s top scorers and their offense to score from inside to earn a 56-35 victory and a WIAA Division 4 regional championship.

The victory vaulted the Vikings into the sectional tournament. Colfax (19-6) will play number one seed Phillips (22-3) in a Thursday evening, March 2 semifinal at Chetek-Weyerhaeuser High School. That night’s other sectional semifinal features another number one seed, Neillsville (26-0), against number 2 Fall Creek (19-7) in Altoona. The winners will play in the sectional championship on Saturday, March 4.  

Unity

After the Eagles took a 2-0 lead, Molly Heidorn put in a jumper from the top of the key and McKenna Shipman stole an in-bounds pass and put in a layup for a 4-2 Viking lead. Colfax maintained a lead the entire game as nine different players scored for the team. And the defense did their part, holding the Eagles leading scorer, Sloan Horgan to just three points, all in the second half.

You have to figure it’s going to be a good night when your team knocks down three consecutive three-point shots by three different players. Heidorn started the rally, followed by Shipman and Kaysen Goodell for a 13-5 advantage. Colfax tacked on seven more points with a Heidorn layup, a Goodell put back and an Aynsley Olson triple and it was 20-5.

 The Vikings had some big contributions from the bench as Meadow Keltner drained a triple and Brynn Sikora drove through the lane for a bucket. It was a very physical game and the Vikings were called for their seventh foul with just under four minutes to go. The Eagles went to the charity stripe twice, once after scoring in the paint which netted them a free throw, and then tacked on one more free toss as the half ended with a 25-9 Colfax lead.

Neither team was burning up the nets to start the second half but the Vikings were adding enough points to maintain a pretty good lead. Shipman knocked down a free throw then scored from underneath to up the lead to 28-9. Unity turned the ball over four straight times before finding the bottom of the net twice, but Shipman scored off an in-bounds pass to make it 30-13. Shipman canned a short jumper, Autumn Niggeman drained a pair of free throws and Keltner connected on her second trey of the night for a 37-18 advantage. 

The Vikings failed to score on their next four possessions and collected their seventh foul, but Keltner broke the cold snap with her third triple of the game for a 40-20 lead.

Knowing by this time they would be playing another game in 24 hours, Colfax coach Courtney Sarauer left just  one starter on the floor to finish things off. The Eagles managed to put up some points as they went to the charity stripe five times but a Sikora free throw, a Niggemann drive, a Jordyn Bowe layup off a fast break and a final free toss by Sierra Shipman put the finishing touch on the win.

Shipman led all scorers with 12 points, followed by Keltner with nine, Heidorn seven, Goodell five, Niggemann four, Olson and Sikora both three, Bowe two and Sierra Shipman one.

The Vikings hit seven triples and were 5-for-10 at the foul line. Unity’s leading scorer, Sloan Horgan, was held to three points after averaging eight points a game. The Eagles made just one three pointer and were 10-for 18 at the charity stripe.

Cadott

Heidorn started the Vikings off once again with a short jumper followed by a Jeanette Hydukovich put back. Lauryn Goettle, the Hornets leading scorer with a 20-point average, put her team on the board with a deuce but another Hydukovich shot in the paint and Olson’ first of five triples in the contest gave the Vikings a 9-2 lead.

Bowe and McKenna Shipman drained back to back three pointers and Shipman added a bucket and it was 17-9. The Colfax defense forced a couple of Hornet turnovers which was pretty important since they were off the mark on three consecutive three-point attempts. The Viking game plan shifted a bit as. Shipman’s teammates started to look under the basket for her and Cadott couldn’t stop her as she scored the rest of the Colfax points in the half on three free throws and three close range shots. Her final shot came with a second left after the Vikings controlled the ball for over a minute, while the Hornets chased them around to no avail and the half ended with a 26-14 Viking advantage.

Both teams came out flat offensively with the Vikings missing two three-point attempts and two shots under the hoop.

Since Cadott was struggling to get the ball in the lane the first half, they came out shooting and unleashed three consecutive triples that were all wide of the mark. Olson finally connected from long range but her Viking teammates couldn’t get the ball in the hoop on four possessions. 

The Hornets started to find themselves offensively with seven points to cut the Viking lead to 29-21 but in just a couple of minutes it was 35-21 with help from Shipman’s free throw, Olson’s second triple and a deuce by Goodell.

The Hornets seemed to be quite frustrated at this point and continued to launch several three-point shots and Goettle finally hit one. That was countered by another Bowe trey off an in-bounds pass in the corner. With 5:50 left in the game and a 20-point lead at 46-26, Colfax fans were feeling it but both teams were still battling it out. Olson finished off the game of her life with a pair of shots in the paint, Goodell drove the lane for a bucket and Shipman took her own drive to the hoop. The Hornets finally connected on a deep three pointer but a couple of Goodell freebies and two by Sikora finished the victory off.

Olson led the Vikings with 19 points which included five triples, Shipman added 17, Bowe six, Hydukovich and Goodell four each, and Sikora and Heidorn tacked on two apiece. Colfax knocked down eight three-point shots and were 8-for-12 at the foul line.

Goettle scored 17 points for the Hornets, and their second leading scorer, Elly Eiler, was held to seven points. Cadott drained five triples (but missed a ton) and were 4-of-7 at the charity stripe.