Panthers streak stopped short in Onalaska

By Jason Arndt

Staff Writer

The Lady Panthers had one humbling challenge after another in their two road games against both a girls basketball sectional finalist and state title winner from last year’s WIAA tournament.

Wilmot Union High School entered its Dec. 29 meeting at Onalaska, but could not withstand the Hilltoppers’ sharpshooting, to snap an eight-game winning streak.

Onalaska (7-1, 3-0 Mississippi Valley) went seven of 13 from 3-point range in the first half and forced 17 total turnovers in the 66-57 win over the Panthers.

“(Onalaska) shot the ball really well. They were seven for 13 in the first half shooting 3s,” said Panthers coach Keiya Square. “We got down early as they hit three or four 3s in the first five minutes.”

The Hilltoppers’ top three scorers combined to shoot eight for 14 from the perimeter, which included Tayla Stuttley, who notched a game-high 23 points. Stuttley also had a game-leading eight rebounds.

Wilmot’s Delaney Sjong, a 5-foot-10 junior, scored a team-leading 17 points, converted seven of eight free throws, and collected three boards.

Junior 5-8 guard Olivia Klahs produced 13 points, and went 2-for-4 in 3-pointers, and pitched in an assist along with four rebounds for the Panthers.

Sam Kirk, a 5-6 senior guard, scored 10 points, grabbed a team-leading six rebounds, pitched in three assists and a had a steal.

While the Panthers’ shooting performance satisfied Square, he acknowledged Onalaska’s free throws hindered attempts for a comeback, noting their 17-for-21 from the charity stripe.

“We were able to get the lead down to four a couple times in the second half,” Square said. “But they made free throws down the stretch.”

After the game against Onalaska, which was one game shy of advancing to the WIAA Division 2 state tournament, the Panthers faced another difficult task at Whitewater, last year’s Division 3 state champion.

Klahs scored a team-leading 13 points, pitched in two assists with four rebounds and three steals in the Panthers’ 10-point loss to Whitewater (9-1, 6-0 Rock Valley-North).

Kirk, who poured in 12 points, pitched in defensively with five steals, two blocked shots, and two boards.

Leading in the post was Sjong (10 points) with eight rebounds.

Junior 5-6 guard Devin Coleman produced a well-rounded game with five steals, three assists, five rebounds and blocked shot.

However, the Whippets had four scorers in double figures, Myriama Smith Traore (15), Allison Heckert (15), Rebekah Schumacher (15) and Ali Ketterhagen (11).

Despite losing two in a row, Square said it was a learning opportunity, noting they were nonconference opponents.

“There is no trophy for nonconference champions and I wanted to put them in adverse situation to see how we responded,” Square said. “We learned a lot about our team, and ourselves as coaches the last two days.”

Currently, Wilmot (8-2) and Union Grove (8-1) have 4-0 Southern Lakes Conference records for a share of first place.

 

 


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