NEW GLARUS - With the game on the line against Barneveld Monday night, New Glarus girls basketball coach Megan Scheele called a timeout and she didn't draw up a play for one player. That's because Scheele believes she has a team of go-to players.
"We wanted to hold it for one shot," Scheele said about taking a timeout with 28.5 seconds left. "I told them whoever is open, shoot the ball. Anyone on our team can shoot. We just say hit the gaps and take it to the basket."
New Glarus sophomore Courtney Feller rewarded her coach's faith when she drove to the basket and scored the game-winning layup with 4.1 seconds left to give the Knights a thrilling 41-40 win over Barneveld, the No. 6-ranked team in the Associated Press Division 5 state poll.
"I knew they were not going to let Anya get a shot off," Feller said. "We are all capable of scoring. It just happened to be me this time."
New Glarus junior Anya Schween made five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Knights
(11-8, 6-3 Capitol South). Just when it looked like Barneveld (17-3, 9-1 Six Rivers East) would pull away after a Madison Laube layup and two Rachel Slaney free throws gave the Eagles a 39-36 lead with about 2 minutes left, Schween stepped up.
Schween drilled a clutch 3-pointer with 47 seconds to go that tied the game at 39.
"That was a very big shot," Scheele said of Schween's 3-pointer. "It got us going. That got us saying we can still win it. She hit some big shots all game."
New Glarus sophomore Sierra Watrud scored nine points and senior Alycia Atwell added six.
"I feel like we needed the outside shots because they were not letting us get it inside," Schween said. "I was really nervous, but confident. It will really help us in the seeding. This is what we wanted."
The Knights got out to a fast start in the first half. Watrud hit a jumper and Schween knocked down a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to give the Knights a 9-4 lead. Schween hit two 3-pointers to help the Knights take a 17-5 lead early in the second period.
The Knights limited the Eagles to 5-for-23 shooting in the first half and led 21-13 at the break.
"We knew they had only lost one game to Black Hawk," Scheele said of the Eagles in conference play. "We had nothing to lose. I told them to worry about us and do things right and good things will happen, and great things happened tonight."
New Glarus started the third quarter with its defense leading to offense. Junior Lexi Hanson's steal led to sophomore Mandi Sargent's layup to give the Knights a 32-28 lead.
The Knights led by as many as 12 points, but the Eagles mounted a comeback. Laube hit a 3-pointer to slice the Knights' lead to
27-25. Watrud answered for the Knights, nailing a 3-pointer to push the lead back to five points. Slaney knocked down two free throws at the end of the third period for the Eagles to cut the Knights' lead to 30-28 to start the fourth quarter.
That set the stage for a thrilling finish. The Eagles committed three straight turnovers in the final 1:11 to open the door for the Knights. Both Laube and Slaney scored 14 points for Barneveld.
"I give all the credit to New Glarus," Barneveld coach Jim Myers said. "They executed from the beginning of the game. We didn't do a good enough job of taking care of the basketball down the stretch."
Myers understands a loss to New Glarus could affect the seeding for the tournament if Barneveld and Black Hawk finish as Six Rivers East Conference co-champions. Black Hawk defeated New Glarus 53-30 in the season opener in November.
"I'm not concerned about that," Myers said. "It will affect it. Whether it's a positive or negative affect, I don't know."
It's a game we can learn from because we have to come out and be ready to play from the beginning."
"We wanted to hold it for one shot," Scheele said about taking a timeout with 28.5 seconds left. "I told them whoever is open, shoot the ball. Anyone on our team can shoot. We just say hit the gaps and take it to the basket."
New Glarus sophomore Courtney Feller rewarded her coach's faith when she drove to the basket and scored the game-winning layup with 4.1 seconds left to give the Knights a thrilling 41-40 win over Barneveld, the No. 6-ranked team in the Associated Press Division 5 state poll.
"I knew they were not going to let Anya get a shot off," Feller said. "We are all capable of scoring. It just happened to be me this time."
New Glarus junior Anya Schween made five 3-pointers and scored a game-high 17 points to lead the Knights
(11-8, 6-3 Capitol South). Just when it looked like Barneveld (17-3, 9-1 Six Rivers East) would pull away after a Madison Laube layup and two Rachel Slaney free throws gave the Eagles a 39-36 lead with about 2 minutes left, Schween stepped up.
Schween drilled a clutch 3-pointer with 47 seconds to go that tied the game at 39.
"That was a very big shot," Scheele said of Schween's 3-pointer. "It got us going. That got us saying we can still win it. She hit some big shots all game."
New Glarus sophomore Sierra Watrud scored nine points and senior Alycia Atwell added six.
"I feel like we needed the outside shots because they were not letting us get it inside," Schween said. "I was really nervous, but confident. It will really help us in the seeding. This is what we wanted."
The Knights got out to a fast start in the first half. Watrud hit a jumper and Schween knocked down a 3-pointer at the end of the first quarter to give the Knights a 9-4 lead. Schween hit two 3-pointers to help the Knights take a 17-5 lead early in the second period.
The Knights limited the Eagles to 5-for-23 shooting in the first half and led 21-13 at the break.
"We knew they had only lost one game to Black Hawk," Scheele said of the Eagles in conference play. "We had nothing to lose. I told them to worry about us and do things right and good things will happen, and great things happened tonight."
New Glarus started the third quarter with its defense leading to offense. Junior Lexi Hanson's steal led to sophomore Mandi Sargent's layup to give the Knights a 32-28 lead.
The Knights led by as many as 12 points, but the Eagles mounted a comeback. Laube hit a 3-pointer to slice the Knights' lead to
27-25. Watrud answered for the Knights, nailing a 3-pointer to push the lead back to five points. Slaney knocked down two free throws at the end of the third period for the Eagles to cut the Knights' lead to 30-28 to start the fourth quarter.
That set the stage for a thrilling finish. The Eagles committed three straight turnovers in the final 1:11 to open the door for the Knights. Both Laube and Slaney scored 14 points for Barneveld.
"I give all the credit to New Glarus," Barneveld coach Jim Myers said. "They executed from the beginning of the game. We didn't do a good enough job of taking care of the basketball down the stretch."
Myers understands a loss to New Glarus could affect the seeding for the tournament if Barneveld and Black Hawk finish as Six Rivers East Conference co-champions. Black Hawk defeated New Glarus 53-30 in the season opener in November.
"I'm not concerned about that," Myers said. "It will affect it. Whether it's a positive or negative affect, I don't know."
It's a game we can learn from because we have to come out and be ready to play from the beginning."
