BRODHEAD - The Brodhead girls basketball team has worked vigorously all season to make a postseason run.
After starting the season 1-2 and suffering through various bumps and bruises, the Cardinals rallied to win the Rock Valley South and boasted a 17-3 record when the regular season concluded.
Make that record 18-3, after the Cardinals made valleys of the Hillmen, dominating Platteville from start to finish to win 62-23 Tuesday in a Division 3 regional opener.
"One of the things we talked about is being focused early, and tonight we were focused early," head coach Chris Medenwaldt said.
Brodhead opened the first quarter running. Courtney Mielke dumped a pass down low to Kristen Ruchti for the game's opening hoop just 11 seconds after tipoff. Platteville tied the score on its next possession, then Brodhead opened the flood gates.
Dana Lewis, the Cardinals' equally impressive post presence alongside Ruchti, received lobs in the paint like clockwork. Lewis scored the next 14 points for Brodhead, as the Cards quickly took a 16-4 lead with 2:05 to play in the frame.
"I just wanted to score. We wanted to get out to a big lead to start, and we did," Lewis said.
By the end of the first quarter, Brodhead led 19-8, with Lewis scoring 16 points.
"When I came to the bench after the first quarter, I thought I had probably 10 points. I looked at my mom in the stands and she told me I had 16," Lewis said, admitting she never had scored that many points in an opening period.
In the second, it was Ruchti's turn to take over. After flipping a pass to Mielke for a 3-pointer, Ruchti scored six straight points to give the Cards a 28-8 lead.
"Dana and I have worked well together the past three years and have gotten to know what to do and where the passes are coming from," Ruchti said.
By halftime, Brodhead led 31-11. Possibly the most telling statistic of the night was team assists. The Cardinals dished out 13 dimes out of 14 baskets.
The only hoop that wasn't assisted happened when Ruchti scored off an offensive rebound at the 6 minute, 28 second mark of the second period.
"I guess the only thing better is if we went 14-out-of-14 (in assists). It shows that we were moving the ball and sharing the ball. And our posts were knocking down a ton of shots. And that really helps," Medenwaldt said.
In the second half, Brodhead's bread and butter continued. Lewis got the first hoop off a dish inside from Alyssa Harding, and Ruchti scored three straight hoops after that.
Lewis finished with 23 points, and Ruchti added 18.
Brodhead also hit four 3s in the contest. Riley Olsen hit two and Wymer connected on a shot with 3:03 left in the third to push the score to 47-13.
By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Brodhead led 51-17.
Medenwaldt was particularly impressed with how his guards played in the game.
"I thought defensively our guards played really well. They were put into a lot of bad matchups, playing against kids bigger than they are, but they did a nice job and ran our offense really well," he said. "And they knocked down shots when they had open looks, too."
Brodhead's defense stifled Platteville even into the fourth quarter, with many of the secondary players holding the Hillmen to just six points in the final frame.
Brodhead finished with 20 assists and was 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Megan Heller had five of the assists. Ruchti, Harding and Leah Hegi each had four dimes.
Nine of the 14 players on the Cardinals' roster scored in the game.
Brodhead now faces off against McFarland (16-5). The Spartans finished one game behind Jefferson for the RVC North title. Brodhead won the only game the two teams played this season, a 46-40 thriller on Dec. 11.
"We just want to take it one game at a time right now," Ruchti said.
The game starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in Brodhead.
Thursday's winner will face the winner of the Monroe-Mount Horeb game in the regional championship in Verona at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
After starting the season 1-2 and suffering through various bumps and bruises, the Cardinals rallied to win the Rock Valley South and boasted a 17-3 record when the regular season concluded.
Make that record 18-3, after the Cardinals made valleys of the Hillmen, dominating Platteville from start to finish to win 62-23 Tuesday in a Division 3 regional opener.
"One of the things we talked about is being focused early, and tonight we were focused early," head coach Chris Medenwaldt said.
Brodhead opened the first quarter running. Courtney Mielke dumped a pass down low to Kristen Ruchti for the game's opening hoop just 11 seconds after tipoff. Platteville tied the score on its next possession, then Brodhead opened the flood gates.
Dana Lewis, the Cardinals' equally impressive post presence alongside Ruchti, received lobs in the paint like clockwork. Lewis scored the next 14 points for Brodhead, as the Cards quickly took a 16-4 lead with 2:05 to play in the frame.
"I just wanted to score. We wanted to get out to a big lead to start, and we did," Lewis said.
By the end of the first quarter, Brodhead led 19-8, with Lewis scoring 16 points.
"When I came to the bench after the first quarter, I thought I had probably 10 points. I looked at my mom in the stands and she told me I had 16," Lewis said, admitting she never had scored that many points in an opening period.
In the second, it was Ruchti's turn to take over. After flipping a pass to Mielke for a 3-pointer, Ruchti scored six straight points to give the Cards a 28-8 lead.
"Dana and I have worked well together the past three years and have gotten to know what to do and where the passes are coming from," Ruchti said.
By halftime, Brodhead led 31-11. Possibly the most telling statistic of the night was team assists. The Cardinals dished out 13 dimes out of 14 baskets.
The only hoop that wasn't assisted happened when Ruchti scored off an offensive rebound at the 6 minute, 28 second mark of the second period.
"I guess the only thing better is if we went 14-out-of-14 (in assists). It shows that we were moving the ball and sharing the ball. And our posts were knocking down a ton of shots. And that really helps," Medenwaldt said.
In the second half, Brodhead's bread and butter continued. Lewis got the first hoop off a dish inside from Alyssa Harding, and Ruchti scored three straight hoops after that.
Lewis finished with 23 points, and Ruchti added 18.
Brodhead also hit four 3s in the contest. Riley Olsen hit two and Wymer connected on a shot with 3:03 left in the third to push the score to 47-13.
By the time the fourth quarter arrived, Brodhead led 51-17.
Medenwaldt was particularly impressed with how his guards played in the game.
"I thought defensively our guards played really well. They were put into a lot of bad matchups, playing against kids bigger than they are, but they did a nice job and ran our offense really well," he said. "And they knocked down shots when they had open looks, too."
Brodhead's defense stifled Platteville even into the fourth quarter, with many of the secondary players holding the Hillmen to just six points in the final frame.
Brodhead finished with 20 assists and was 4-for-6 from the free throw line. Megan Heller had five of the assists. Ruchti, Harding and Leah Hegi each had four dimes.
Nine of the 14 players on the Cardinals' roster scored in the game.
Brodhead now faces off against McFarland (16-5). The Spartans finished one game behind Jefferson for the RVC North title. Brodhead won the only game the two teams played this season, a 46-40 thriller on Dec. 11.
"We just want to take it one game at a time right now," Ruchti said.
The game starts at 7 p.m. Thursday in Brodhead.
Thursday's winner will face the winner of the Monroe-Mount Horeb game in the regional championship in Verona at 1:30 p.m. Saturday.
