Lady Vikings run over Glenwood City, sail past Mondovi

By Cara L. Dempski

The first few games of the 2016–17 girls’ basketball season left Colfax head coach Joe Doucette wondering if his team would be able to pull off a winning record. With two wins last week, the Viking girls are now firmly over .500.

Doucette believed his team of mostly freshmen and sophomores was talented, but inexperienced. That group, however, is quickly gaining experience and after the Vikings’ 65-35 beat down of the Lady Hilltoppers in Glenwood City on January 10, the Colfax squad had pulled even on the season with a 6-6 overall record and moved to 3-2 in the Dunn-St. Croix.

They faced the Lady Buffaloes in Mondovi on January 13 and moved to two games over .500 in conference play at 4-2 and 7-6 overall with the seven-point win. Doucette called the game a nice win and one the team wanted badly. The Vikings beat the Mondovi squad 56-49 and moved into third place in the conference behind Durand (5-0) and Elk Mound (4-1).

The Vikings went to Elk Mound on January 17 to play a game postponed from December 16. They host Durand Thursday and are scheduled to meet the Boyceville girls’ for the second time this season on Tuesday, January 24 in Boyceville.

Glenwood City

Doucette said the Viking girls were slow to start in their January 10 contest at Glenwood City as they trailed the Hilltoppers early, but senior Ally Heidorn provided four three-point shots and a total of 16 first-half points to give Colfax a spark.

The Vikings led 30-20 at the half, with Alyssa Dachel and Morgan Schleusner each adding a three-pointer to the score, and Kameri Meredith, Taylor Irwin and Bryana Buchanan putting in four field goals between them.

Heidorn was less “red hot” in the second half, but Meredith and her classmate Jayna Bowe both came on strong. Savannah Henricks and Emma Hurlburt also picked up the pace and several scores in the second half.

Full- and half-court defense pressure helped Colfax net the first 12 points of the second half and the Vikings never looked back on their way to the 30-point, 65-35 victory.

The team’s head coach indicated the Vikings’ shooting has improved, and he is hoping to see more consistency in offense. 

“Defensively, we have been solid all year,” Doucette stated. “It’s about being consistent on offense. If we could get stronger with the ball and shoot the ball better, I think we could be scary good.”

The Glenwood City contest lifted the Colfax ladies to the .500 mark for the first time this season. Heidorn scored a game high of 21 points and was 75 percent on free throws. Meredith put in seven field goals for 14 points.

Bowe tacked on seven points with an outside shot for three and four good charity shots. Henricks was good for a three-pointer, a field goal, and a free throw to log six points. Dachel continued her streak of hitting at least one three-point shot per game with a single shot from downtown, she also added a field goal to record five points.

Hurlburt was able to push inside to get two field goals for four points, Schleusner and Irwin tied with three points each, and Buchanan logged a single field goal.

Glenwood City junior Jenesa Klinger logged 13 points against the Lady Vikings.

COLFAX 65, GLENWOOD CITY 35

Colfax……………………………30  35 — 65
Glenwood City………………..20  15 — 35

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Colfax (16-9-8-65) A Dachel 1-0-2-5, M. Schleusner 0-0-0-3, A. Heidorn 3-3-1-21, K. Meredith 7-0-1-14, S. Henricks 1-1-0-6, T. Irwin 1-1-0-3, B. Buchanan 1-0-1-2, J. Bowe 0-4-2-7, E. Hurlburt 2-0-1-4.

Glenwood City (11-4-10-35) J. Klinger 3-1-1-13, M. Voeltz 2-1-1-5, D. Quinn 1-0-2-5, B. Barstad 1-2-1-4, J. Crossley 0-0-1-0, O. Scalze 1-0-0-2, B. Moll 2-0-3-4, C. Lawson 1-0-1-2.

THREE-POINTERS C — A. Dachel 1, M. Schleusner 1, A. Heidorn 4, S. Henricks 1, J. Bowe 1; GC — J. Klinger 2, D. Quinn 1.

Mondovi

The Viking girls’ basketball squad took a 31-19 lead into halftime during its January 13 matchup against the Lady Buffaloes at Mondovi. Doucette blames himself for underestimating Buffalo Haley Poeschel, who closed the gap and brought her team within two of the Colfax team in the second half.

“She (Poeschel) had 35 points, and almost got them all the way back from our big lead,” Doucette explained. “I made the mistake of giving Poeschel too much open floor and she had a great game.”

Even a 35-point scoring effort could not lift the Buffs past the Vikings, who stayed poised and made big plays and free throws down the stretch to pick up the win. 

Doucette named sophomore Savannah Henricks as one of the Colfax players who had a standout game at Mondovi last Friday. She led the team in scoring with 17 points, but the Colfax coach was also quick to note Henricks had plenty of company in playing well.

Bryana Buchanan, Emma Hurlburt, Alyssa Dachel, Ally Heidorn and Kameri Meredith all made big plays to survive the Mondovi onslaught and cop the win. Nine Vikings’ players saw playing minutes against the Lady Buffs, and Doucette said they all made valuable contributions to the game.

Henricks was not the only Viking to score in the double digits against Mondovi. Meredith put together 10 points with five field goals to continue her strong first season as a varsity player. Hurlburt scored nine with four field goals and a free throw, Dachel scored eight, and seniors Heidorn and Buchanan put  in six apiece.

Poeschl led both the Mondovi squad and the game with her 35 points spread out over 11 field goals, a trio of three-point shots, and four charity throws.

COLFAX 56, MONDOVI 49
Colfax………………..31  25 — 56
Mondovi……………19  30 — 49

TEAM STATISTICS (FG-FT-F-T)

Colfax (18-11-12-56) A. Dachel 1-3-4-8, M. Schleusner 0-0-1-0, A. Heidorn 2-2-2-6, K. Meredith 5-0-1-10, S. Henricks 6-5-1-17, B. Buchanan 0-0-1-6, E. Hurlburt 4-1-2-9.

Mondovi (11-6-13-49) H. Poeschel 11-4-1-35, S. Wolff 0-0-4-0, A. Everson 0-0-0-3, S. Ede 0-1-0-1, R. Evans 0-0-2-9, K. Everson 0-0-1-0, M. Akina 0-0-1-0, M. Rud 0-0-2-0, M. Lund 0-1-2-1.

THREE-POINTERS C — A. Dachel 1, B. Buchanan 2; M — H. Poeschel 3, A. Everson 1, R. Evans 3.