This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
MARATHON – The Spencer girls basketball team started strong but couldn’t survive an eight-minute scorless streak and lost to Prentice 56-42 in a WIAA Division 5 regional final Saturday night at Marathon High School.
The Rockets led 10-6 after six points by Courtney Schulz before Prentice, the top seed in the regional, surged ahead.
The Buccaneers (23-1) scored the final seven points of the first quarter and the first 10 points of the second quarter to take a commanding 23-10 lead.
Schulz had a three-point play to end the Buccaneers’ 17-0 run over a stretch of 8:07. The Rockets didn’t get closer than 10 points the rest of the game. Schulz finished with a team-high 21 points and 10 rebounds.
“Give Prentice credit, they’re definitely a good team,” Spencer coach Dan Brodziski said. “They changed their defense a little bit and we didn’t adjust as well as I thought we should of. It just seemed like we shot ourselves in the foot a little bit.”
Prentice outscored Spencer 11-6 over the first 5:19 of the third quarter and Abbie Anderson scored nine of her game-high 28 points in the fourth quarter to keep the Rockets at bay.
Prentice moves on to the sectional for the second straight season. The Buccaneers play Turtle Lake(15-10) in a sectional semifinal on Thursday at Abbotsford High School. The sectional final is March 19 at Spooner.
Spencer, which does not have a senior on its roster, is left hoping it will get its chance next year.
“I told the girls that this is where Prentice was last year,” Brodziski said. “They had the same aspirations and goals that we had this year. After another year, they took that senior leadership and moved forward. Hopefully, we can do that same thing.”
Buccaneers 56, Rockets 42
Prentice 13 12 13 18 – 56
Spencer 10 4 10 18 – 42
PRENTICE (56): Becca Jones 0-1 0-0 0, Megan Nehls 0-5 0-0 0, Amanda Annala 0-1 0-0 0, Hailey Niemi 5-7 2-2 12, Macy Wildberg 2-5 1-4 5, Cassie Hallstrand 3-9 2-2 9, Abbie Anderson 8-16 14-19 29. FG: 18-44. FT: 19-27. 3-pointers: 1-7 (Hallstrand 1-2, Nehls 0-3, Jones 0-1, Anderson 0-1). Rebounds: 22 (Anderson 13). Turnovers: 7. Total fouls: 21. Fouled out: Wildberg. Record: 23-1.
SPENCER (42): Danica Johnson 0-0 1-2 1, Krystal Weier 2-12 2-2 6, Courtney Schulz 7-9 7-8 21, Tara Matter 5-7 2-8 12, Aubrie Bissonette 0-2 0-0 0, Kyleigh Hebert 1-9 0-0 2, Tynae Phillips 0-0 0-1 0. FG: 15-39. FT: 12-21. 3-pointers: 0-5 (Weier 0-4, Hebert 0-1). Rebounds: 30 Schulz 10). Turnovers: 18. Total fouls: 21. Fouled out: Hebert. Record: 20-4.