Colfax girls bag the Blackhawks, fall to Macks to split pair of games for the week

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

COLFAX — It was an up and down week for the Colfax girl’s basketball team as they bombed the Bloomer Blackhawks in a home contest, 52-30, November 30, and two days later struggled against the Chippewa Falls McDonell Macks and lost 54-42. The game was one of six games played in the Colfax gym as part of the annual Western Wisconsin Girls’ Basketball Classic that included most of the Dunn-St. Croix Conference teams and several Cloverbelt West Conference teams.

The Vikings begin Dunn-St. Croix Conference play this week. They hosted Durand-Arkansaw last evening in the opener and will travel west down Highway 170 Friday to take on Boyceville.

Bloomer

The gym was buzzing with a large crowd hoping to witness Colfax player McKenna Shipman reach the 1,000 point mark in scoring. Shipman needed just three points to reach the milestone and you can bet the Blackhawks knew it too. They doubled up on her as soon as she touched the ball, making it difficult to get a clean shot off on her first three attempts. Her teammates took over however, with Kaysen Goodell draining a triple, Autumn Niggemann drilling another and Goodell banking in one more for a 9-5 Viking lead.

Shipman managed to squeeze a jump shot in but it was the defense who came up big as they held Bloomer to just ten first-half points. Goodell scored from the paint, Brynn Sikora scored on Shipman’s assist and Niggemann canned another trey for a 19-7 Viking advantage. With 3:32 left in the half, Shipman found some space and scored in the paint, with the assist coming from her younger sister Sierra Shipman and that became points number 1,000 and 1,001. Play was stopped to let the fans and her teammates celebrate as athletic director Michael Hodel made the announcement.

When play resumed, Sierra Shipman hit a free throw and Sikora scored on an in-bounds pass to end the half with Colfax up 22-10.

Colfax kept up the defensive pressure while scoring at will with Jada Anderson scoring from close range and McKenna Shipman dropping in a free throw and canning a trey. After Goodell swiped the ball and drove in for the layup and the free toss it was 33-14, Sierra Shipman knocked down another triple for the Vikings, Goodell scored on an in-bounds pass, McKenna Shipman drove through the lane and Jeanette Hydukovich scored her first two points of the contest for a 47-22 lead.

Jordyn Bowe drained another Viking trey and Goodell finished off the scoring for Colfax on a close-range shot.

Goodell was the high scorer for the night with 15 points with McKenna Shipman adding ten. Colfax connected for seven triples and were 5-for-13 at the charity stripe. Bloomer was led by Brooklyn Sarauer with nine points. The Blackhawks dropped in three treys and were 3-for-14 at the foul line.

McKenna Shipman became the eighth female player in a Viking uniform to reach the 1,000-point mark. Jodi Bosch was the first and is the all time leading scorer with 1,551. Jessica Nohl finished with 1,514 between Washburn High School and Colfax, Courtney Doucette (Sarauer) (now McKenna’s coach) had 1,250, Kameri Meredith  finished with 1,239, Mallie Doucette came up with 1,102, Monica Wittrock ended her career with 1,050 and Elsa Johnson, playing for Lake Holcombe and Colfax reached the mark but it is unsure what her total was. Shipman scored 119 of her points as a freshman, 367 her sophomore year and 473 as a junior. She still has 19 regular season games left along with any additional games after that.

McDonell Central

When you are facing the defending Division 5 state champions who have several starters back, you can expect it to be a highly competitive game. But, after the Vikings took a 3-0 lead on a Sikora bucket and a Goodell free toss, the Vikings were unable to get the ball in the basket against the overly aggressive Mack defense.

Colfax had nine possessions in which they failed to score. When they managed to get a clear shot off, they were off the mark, sometimes missing twice from close range shots. McDonell pulled ahead 12-3 before Hydukovich scored from the top of the key but they fell behind 18-5 before McKenna Shipman broke the run, scoring on an in-bounds pass.

Goodell swiped the ball and scored on a fast break layup, McKenna Shipman scored from the lane, Jordyn Bowe drilled a three point shot and Jada Anderson scored on a put back but the half ended with Colfax down 23-16.

The turnover bug bit the Vikings hard at the start of the second half as they gave the ball away six times. The Macks took advantage and held a 29-16 lead before McKenna Shipman stopped the bleeding with a shot from behind the arc. Hydukovich dropped in a deuce but the tenacious Mack Defense once again forced the Vikings into several turnovers. Sikora finally scored on a put back twice and McKenna Shipman hit back-to-back shots. Meanwhile, the Viking defense was shutting the Macks down and when everyone looked at the scoreboard, the Vikings were down just 33-29 at the midway point of the half.

The Vikings committed their seventh team foul with 7:35 left, while the Macks had been saddled with just three. McDonell hit four free throws to pull ahead 37-29 before Anderson drove the lane for two points and Hydukovich scored on a slick spin move to put the deficit back at four points. But the Macks used free throws and their solid defense to up their lead to 47-33 and when the Vikings picked up their 10th team foul with just over a minute left, the Macks finished it off at the charity stripe. Hydukovich connected on a trey from the corner, McKenna Shipman hit two free tosses with Hydukovich adding another, and McKenna Shipman was fouled with a second left on a three point attempt. She calmly nailed all three freebies but it was too little too late for the Vikings.

Shipman finished with 16 points including a 5-for-5 performance at the foul line. Hydukovich added 10 points with eight in the second half. Colfax improved at the charity line, going 7-for-11 and the team had three triples. 

The Macks were led by Ellamay Cooper with 18 points, including 10-of-11 free tosses. The team connected for 20-of-24 free throws with three treys.

Colfax is now 2-3 for the season.