Fall Creek, Eleva-Strum bounce-back from setbacks
The offseason turmoil in the Western Cloverbelt Conference (WCC) which saw coach Don Cooper and his daughter, starting sophomore point guard Ella Mae, transfer from defending WCC and sectional champion Chippewa Falls McDonell to Eau Claire Regis seems to have settled dowm. And after a shaky start, including a loss at McDonell, 5-4 overall, in its WCC opener, the Ramblers seem to be settling-in to a title run, especially after edging Fall Creek 54-49 last week Tuesday, Dec. 17 in Fall Creek.
Regis led pretty much the whole ballgame. Fall Creek could never get the momentum going to surge in front - especially in the second half where they trailed by as much as nine points after being down only 31-29 at halftime, due to poor free-throw shooting. Regis, 8-2 overall, outscored the Crickets 13-6 at the foul line but it was the points FC left on the table going 6-for-16 (Regis went 13-for-21) that were their real dagger. Cooper made six of those free-throws, part of a game-high 24 points for her. Teammate, senior power forward Carly Borst, finished 13 points, most of those coming in the second half.
Sophie Schmidgall led Fall Creek with 14 points, Jasmin Heuer finished 10, Kenny Tumm had nine points and Addy Haynes scored seven points. Fall Creek, 5-3 overall, did bounce back to rout Bloomer on the road last week Friday, Dec. 20 by a 66-40 score. The Crickets are still a game and a half back of the unbeaten Macks in the WCC standings and still have to play McDonell in January. This Friday, Dec. 27, FC hosts a non-conference game vs. Arcadia beginning at 7:15 p.m.
Speaking of bouncing back, Eleva-Strum did just that last week from a close loss at home to Blair-Taylor the week before. E-S won over Independence/Gilmanton, 6-2 overall, at home on Tuesday, Dec. 17 by a 53-39 outcome. E-S took control of the contest in the first half, leafing 31-20 at the break and held on in the second half led by sophomore guard Avery Glenz's 21 points. Fellow sophomore guard Maddea Brown finished with nine points, Avery Spanberg had eight as did sophomore forward Avaya Zweifelhofer while junior center Aliza Kulig scored six points. Glenz's effort got her named WHTL FM 102.3's Player of the Game award.
And had WHTL been in Augusta last week Friday, Dec. 20, Glenz probably would have won the award again as she scored 22 points to lead all scorers in the Cardinals' 67-52 victory. She leads the Large Dairyland in scoring with a 21 points per game average. Zweifelhofer finished with 10 points and Kulig had nine points as E-S improved to 4-3 overall and a half-game in back of Large Dairyland leaders Indy/Gilmanton, Whitehall and Melrose-Mindoro, all with 5-2 league records.
E-S will play in the Target Center in Minneapolis on Saturday, Dec. 28 against Houston, Minn.
Sophomores Stella Zank and Cecelia Schroeder scored 17 and 10 respectively to lead Augusta, 1-6 overall, in scoring. The Beavers's non-conference contest at home vs. Thorp last week Thursday was postponned due to bad weather. Augusta plays New Richmond and Elmwood/Plum City (EPC) Holiday Tournament this weekend, Dec. 27-28 in Elmwood.
Osseo-Fairchild still seeks its first win this season. The Thunder lost at home to Alma/Pepin 57-44 last week Tuesday, Dec. 17 and then fell 61-41 to Whitehall, also at home, Friday, Dec. 20. The Norse, 5-4 overall, had three players in double figures in their win.
