NEW GLARUS — After getting into foul trouble in the first half, New Glarus drew more fouls in the second to score 39 points en route to a 71-39 win over Evansville on Saturday, Nov. 26.

“We don’t want to give them free ones at the line, especially their best player,” head coach Kevin Parman said. “I think they had 10-12 free throws in the first half. It would be a different game if we didn’t have all of those fouls.”

Lindsey Schadewalt opened the game with a bucket, but Evansville scored two straight to take the lead. Schadewalt scored once again to tie the game, and teammate Elle Lancaster gave New Glarus the lead with points of her own, forcing a Blue Devil timeout.

The Knights scored out of the timeout, as Schadewalt connected with Alex Atwell for an 8-4 lead. On the defensive end, senior guard Grace Nommensen picked up her second foul and sat the rest of the half. Another foul by Atwell sent Ava Brandenburg to the line, where the Blue Devils tied the game at eight.

Atwell got redemption by scoring on the other end, followed by a 3-pointer from Schadewalt. In the Knights’ next offensive possession, Schadewalt drove to the basket, scored and drew the and-one. Although she was unable to convert, New Glarus didn’t relinquish their lead the rest of the night.

Schadewalt scored the next five points for the Knights to give them a 10-point lead. After a bucket from Evansville’s Maria Messling, Bella Brenkman grabbed an offensive rebound and dished it to Atwell for two.

The Blue Devils closed the gap with a 3-pointer, forcing a New Glarus timeout. Evansville maintained its momentum by drawing a foul and going 2-for-2 from the free throw line to get within five. A fast-break bucket from Schadewalt — assisted by Payton Schneider — stalled the Blue Devils momentarily. Brandenburg kept the deficit at five with a two.

With back-to-back points, New Glarus looked to take a 32-22 lead into the half, but Messling drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer at the top of the key. Evansville trailed by seven at the half.

In the opening minutes of the second half, the Blue Devils committed three fouls, where they had all of four fouls in the first half. On the resulting inbounds play, Atwell scored.

“We changed our mentality,” Parman said of the reversed role in fouls. “We were aggressive and got to the hole rather than backing off from the contact. The girls did a nice job of attacking their players.”

After back-to-back points from Evansville, New Glarus went on a decisive 17-point run. 

Schadewalt sparked the run, converting on an and-one at the free throw line. On the defensive end, she stole the ball and passed up the court to Nommensen for a transition bucket. Nommensen, who sat a majority of the first half with two fouls, then took it to the hoop and got fouled in the process. She went 1-for-2 from the charity stripe. Schadewalt followed suit, making both of her free throws.

On a fast break, Brenkman assisted Lancaster for two. Atwell kept her foot on the gas, drawing a foul from Messling, which was her fourth. From that point on, the Knights were in bonus. Atwell went 2-for-2 at the line, as did Nommensen and Schadewalt after her.

Brandenburg ended the run with a bucket on Messling’s missed shot. New Glarus kept rolling, though, as Schadewalt drained a three and followed with another bucket, forcing an Evansville timeout. Schadewalt then assisted Nommensen on back-to-back back-door cut plays, followed by a bucket from Atwell.

With a 31-point lead, Parman played his substitutes the rest of the game. Megan Peterson drew the fifth foul on Messling and went 1-for-2 at the charity stripe.

Of the final 15 points, nine of them occurred at the free throw line. Off the bench, Hailey Thompson scored four points, going 2-for-5 from the charity stripe. Emma Martinson capped the game with a fast-break bucket.

Schadewalt, who scored 24 points each in her first two games, led the team with 29 points. With 77 points this season — added to the 904 career points from her freshman and sophomore years — Schadewalt is just 19 points away from 1,000 in her career. If she keeps pace, Schadewalt will hit the milestone in New Glarus’ home game on Thursday, Dec. 1 against Lakeside Lutheran.

“I know everybody wants to hit that milestone at home,” Parman said. “Everybody looks at her stats and focuses on her. She deserves that, but we also have a really good supporting cast this year that is stepping up and taking some of that pressure off of her.”

Atwell also scored in double digits with 15 points. Six other players made the scorebook, too: Nommenson (9), Lancaster (7), Martinson (4), Thompson (4) Schneider (2) and Peterson (1).

The Knights limited the Blue Devils’ top scorers — Brandenburg and Messling — to just 10 and eight points, respectively. Messling is a Division I commit with Western Illinois University.

“Everyone knows that Evansville has two really good players [Brandenburg and Messling],” Parman said. “As a focus, we wanted to make sure that we made them play both ends of the court and attack them on offense.”

In other local girls basketball games, Black Hawk fell to Cambridge 55-39.

Tara and Hailey Wellnitz led the team with 10 points each. Tara Wellnitz went 6-for-8 from the free throw line, while Hailey Wellnitz was 2-for-4 from beyond the arc. Tara Wellnitz, along with Maddy Lange, led the team with eight rebounds apiece. 

The Warriors got into foul trouble, as both Lange and Raylin Peterson fouled out of the game. Tara Wellnitz and Jaliyah Collins finished with four each.