MONTICELLO - The Lady Ponies were so excited, and they just couldn't hide it in their first win of the season.
"Once they started knocking down a few shots early, you could just see it on their faces, everybody got really excited," Monticello coach Heath Eliason said of his squad's 41-38 victory over Albany at home Tuesday night.
Monticello (1-11, 1-6 Six Rivers East) got exceptional balance in the scoring column as four Ponies scored six or more points.
"At the start of the year, MacKenzie was the only one scoring for us," Eliason said, "and we saw tonight just how much tougher it is to stop a team when they're balanced."
Rachel Nelson enjoyed a breakout performance on both ends as she scored a season-high eight points, tied with Sadi Hilliard and second to MacKenzie Hilliard's 12. But, after Comets (5-6, 3-4) senior Amy Golz scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half, Nelson got the order from her coach at halftime to not let Golz touch the ball.
Nelson followed through.
Now Nelson hopes her club can use the timely momentum as it enters a daunting stretch. Monticello travels to Six Rivers East frontrunner Pecatonica Tuesday before hosting conference staple Barneveld next Friday.
The Comets host Juda on Tuesday.
New Glarus 45
Cambridge 42
Teams are having a hard time accounting for the multi-faceted attack of the Glarner Knights.
Thursday night at Cambridge, senior forward Shanna Karls took the leading role in scoring 16 points, eight coming in a 12-4 third quarter, as New Glarus (8-3, 4-1) held on for a 45-42 victory and leapfrogged the Blue Jays to the top of the standings in the Capitol South.
Knights senior Dani Pickett drilled a triple for her only points, earning tons of attention the rest of the way, particular with her recent point-scoring surge.
"I think teams are trying to key on who our scorer is, but it's changing all the time," New Glarus coach Braden Rindy said.
While Cambridge (7-3, 2-1) hawked the perimeter, Karls went to work in the painted area.
"If she didn't hit the 2, she got fouled because she's so strong and has a lot of moves down there," Rindy said.
The Knights' staunch man-to-man defense was the catalyst of the four-point Blue Jay third. But Cambridge did chop down a 14-point lead just before Rindy started subbing in the fourth.
He hopes his club, winners of four straight, can stay hot when they host the only team to hand them a league loss this season, Wisconsin Heights, on Tuesday.
Cuba City 70
Darlington 39
Now that the toughest stretch of the season is in the past, the Redbirds hope to dial back into their script.
Darlington (6-4, 3-3 SWAL) strayed from the design in the second quarter at Cuba City (11-0, 7-0). The result was a 23-4 Cubans advantage over the eight minutes that all but locked up a 70-39 victory before the break.
"In the second quarter, we tried to freelance too much and got away from the things we should be doing against their pressure," Darlington coach Kurt Cohen said.
The Cubans were led by Brianna Droessler and Briana Kaiser, who tied for the team lead in points with 13 apiece.
The Redbirds have lost their last two games by a combined score of 132-68, after a 62-29 loss at Mineral Point Friday night.
In the second half, Tuesday, Cohen started to recognize the squad that garnered votes in the Division 3 poll weeks ago. Katie Martin led the 'Birds with a dozen points.
"We just got back to being in the right places and executing the way we know how," Cohen said.
Hopefully the refound rhythm will translate into next week's busy schedule as Darlington hosts Southwestern Monday and Riverdale Tuesday before Boscobel drops by Friday.
"Once they started knocking down a few shots early, you could just see it on their faces, everybody got really excited," Monticello coach Heath Eliason said of his squad's 41-38 victory over Albany at home Tuesday night.
Monticello (1-11, 1-6 Six Rivers East) got exceptional balance in the scoring column as four Ponies scored six or more points.
"At the start of the year, MacKenzie was the only one scoring for us," Eliason said, "and we saw tonight just how much tougher it is to stop a team when they're balanced."
Rachel Nelson enjoyed a breakout performance on both ends as she scored a season-high eight points, tied with Sadi Hilliard and second to MacKenzie Hilliard's 12. But, after Comets (5-6, 3-4) senior Amy Golz scored 14 of her 20 points in the first half, Nelson got the order from her coach at halftime to not let Golz touch the ball.
Nelson followed through.
Now Nelson hopes her club can use the timely momentum as it enters a daunting stretch. Monticello travels to Six Rivers East frontrunner Pecatonica Tuesday before hosting conference staple Barneveld next Friday.
The Comets host Juda on Tuesday.
New Glarus 45
Cambridge 42
Teams are having a hard time accounting for the multi-faceted attack of the Glarner Knights.
Thursday night at Cambridge, senior forward Shanna Karls took the leading role in scoring 16 points, eight coming in a 12-4 third quarter, as New Glarus (8-3, 4-1) held on for a 45-42 victory and leapfrogged the Blue Jays to the top of the standings in the Capitol South.
Knights senior Dani Pickett drilled a triple for her only points, earning tons of attention the rest of the way, particular with her recent point-scoring surge.
"I think teams are trying to key on who our scorer is, but it's changing all the time," New Glarus coach Braden Rindy said.
While Cambridge (7-3, 2-1) hawked the perimeter, Karls went to work in the painted area.
"If she didn't hit the 2, she got fouled because she's so strong and has a lot of moves down there," Rindy said.
The Knights' staunch man-to-man defense was the catalyst of the four-point Blue Jay third. But Cambridge did chop down a 14-point lead just before Rindy started subbing in the fourth.
He hopes his club, winners of four straight, can stay hot when they host the only team to hand them a league loss this season, Wisconsin Heights, on Tuesday.
Cuba City 70
Darlington 39
Now that the toughest stretch of the season is in the past, the Redbirds hope to dial back into their script.
Darlington (6-4, 3-3 SWAL) strayed from the design in the second quarter at Cuba City (11-0, 7-0). The result was a 23-4 Cubans advantage over the eight minutes that all but locked up a 70-39 victory before the break.
"In the second quarter, we tried to freelance too much and got away from the things we should be doing against their pressure," Darlington coach Kurt Cohen said.
The Cubans were led by Brianna Droessler and Briana Kaiser, who tied for the team lead in points with 13 apiece.
The Redbirds have lost their last two games by a combined score of 132-68, after a 62-29 loss at Mineral Point Friday night.
In the second half, Tuesday, Cohen started to recognize the squad that garnered votes in the Division 3 poll weeks ago. Katie Martin led the 'Birds with a dozen points.
"We just got back to being in the right places and executing the way we know how," Cohen said.
Hopefully the refound rhythm will translate into next week's busy schedule as Darlington hosts Southwestern Monday and Riverdale Tuesday before Boscobel drops by Friday.
