Colfax girls plunder Pirates but end season with WIAA regional final loss to Fall Creek

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by Marlys Kruger

Sports Correspondent

After receiving a first round bye in the WIAA regional tournament, the Colfax girls, a number five seed, made the long drive north to Grantsburg February 23 to face the Grantsburg Pirates. It turned out the trip was worth their while as they took care of the Pirates quite handily, coming away with a 56-30 win. Just 24 hours later, they were on the road again when they took on the number one seed Fall Creek. For the second time in two weeks, the Lady Vikings succumbed to the Crickets, this time by a score of 57-38. Colfax ended their season with a record of 17-9, with several of their losses coming from schools from a larger division.

Grantsburg

On paper it appeared this would be a closely fought game. Both teams were 16-8 overall with the Vikings finishing second in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference while the Pirates were third in the Lakeland West Conference. Grantsburg had three players who averaged 10 points a game or better, including senior Megan Schafer who just happens to be Grantsburg’s all-time leading scorer, with over 1,000 career points. The Vikings had just one player averaging more than 10 points a game in McKenna Shipman, who also has scored over 1,000 points in her career. The difference in this game however, proved to be the Colfax defense that shut the Pirates down in the first half, allowing them to pull out a big win.

The first five minutes were fast and furious as both teams were scoring quick points. Shipman put the Vikings up 3-2 on a triple and Kaysen Goodell drained her own trey to make it 6-5. Grantsburg went up 7-6 but yet another Shipman three pointer and a Brynn Sikora free toss knotted the score at 10-10. Both teams were cold from the floor for several minutes but after Shipman scored in the paint, it turned out to be the beginning of a 15-point run for the Vikings. Autumn Niggemann drained a trey, Jeanette Hydukovich knocked down a pair of free throws, Sikora stole the ball and scored on a layup, Kaysen Goodell dropped in back-to-back buckets and Sikora canned two free tosses for a 25-10 advantage. Grantsburg played almost 14 minutes without scoring during the streak due to the extremely efficient defensive play by the Vikings. Two Pirate free throws ended the run but Colfax went into the break up 25-12.

Yet another long scoring run by the Vikings came as the second half began. Shipman started it off once more with two free tosses and a triple while Goodell scored in the lane, Shipman scored off an inbounds pass, Sierra Shipman added a deuce in the paint and Goodell drilled another shot from behind the arc to put the Vikings ahead 39-12. The Pirates were trying to get shots off but with a Viking defender sticking to them like glue, most of the shots were off balance and they were only getting one chance due to the outstanding rebounding by Colfax.

Although the game was pretty much put away, Goodell and Sikora helped increase the lead with a triple each, and a bucket each from McKenna Shipman, Hydukovich, Clara Hydukovich and Jordyn Bowe finished things off.

 Goodell finished with 18 points including four shots from long range while McKenna Shipman finished with 17 points with a trio of treys. The team knocked down 7-of-8 free throws with a total of nine triples. Grantsburg did not have any player score in double figures as Piper Hicks finished with nine points on three long balls. Schaefer was held to just five points and the team was 5-for-6 at the foul line.

Fall Creek

The Crickets defeated the Vikings February 12 on their home court 64-40 and they started the contest on a 13-game win streak, including a relatively easy game over Boyceville 74-27 the night before. With a record of 22-3, their only losses came by way of undefeated Elk Mound who are a number one seed in Division 3, number two seed Durand and number one seed McDonell Central (in Division 4). Of their three leading scorers, none of them were averaging in double digits, indicating they were a very balanced team.

McKenna Shipman started things off with a bang, scoring from the paint and again on a shot from behind the arc for a 5-2 Colfax lead. Fall Creek pulled ahead 11-5 with four close range shots and a free toss before Jeanette Hydukovich scored on an inbounds pass. Jordyn Bowe knocked down a free throw and banged home a triple, and after a McKenna Shipman jumper, it was 13-13. 

Both teams were exerting plenty of energy, using a full-court press on defense most of the game which produced several turnovers both ways. After a couple of empty possessions by the Vikings, Goodell scored in the lane, and it took a long time before Colfax scored again, due to the tenacious Cricket defense seemingly shutting down all the Viking passing lanes. Goodell finally found an opening underneath for a deuce, but Fall Creek pulled ahead 26-17. Jordyn Bowe drove through the middle of the lane for two points and McKenna Shipman hit a bucket but on the final five possessions before the half, Colfax was off the mark on four shots with a turnover in the midst of those shots. The half ended with Fall Creek up 30-21.

The Crickets crashed the offensive boards early in the second half, scoring on two putbacks and added a trey to move ahead 37-21. After four Viking turnovers, Jaycey Bowe re-started the Viking engines and scored from close range, Sierra Shipman drained a three ball and Jordyn Bowe with a very loud Fall Creek crowd in the background, calmly knocked down four free throws. The Colfax fans were cheering pretty loud themselves when they looked at the scoreboard and saw their Vikings were down just 37-30. 

Anticipating a comeback like the Vikings have done in big games before, the Crickets had other thoughts. After their coach called a time out, they scored five quick points, causing Colfax to commit their seventh team foul with 5:21 left in the game. McKenna Shipman scored what would be her final points of the game under the hoop, but a couple of Colfax shot attempts went astray against the closely guarding Crickets. Jordyn Bowe managed to find the range, draining a three pointer, Sikora hit a free toss and after Goodell scored on a drive, the Viking offense fizzled out.

When Hydukovich picked up the Viking’s tenth foul, it was also her fifth, sending her to the bench, and Goodell also fouled out a couple of minutes later. Needless to say, Fall Creek spent a lot of time at the charity stripe during that time and iced the game with 12 free throws. All told, the Crickets finished 18-for-25 at the foul line in the contest while the Vikings were 6-for-8.

Sophomore Jordyn Bowe was the leading scorer for Colfax with 13 points including a pair of triples and a 5-for-6 performance at the foul line. McKenna Shipman was held to 11 points, three below her average.

Senior Kambel Sell and sophomore Jasmin Heuer shared the scoring title for the Crickets with 14 points each with Heuer  making 10-of-13 free tosses. 

Five seniors finished their careers for the Vikings including McKenna Shipman, Jaycey Bowe, Meadow Keltner, Jeanette Hydukovich and Jada Anderson.