MINERAL POINT — Monday, Jan. 30 saw the Black Hawk (7-11, 5-3) varsity girls basketball squad travel to face Mineral Point (14-4) in a match that stayed relatively close through the midpoint of the first half as the Warriors fell, 64-35.
The Pointers opened up the game with a quick push for the lead by way of a Kennedy Kabat 3-pointer, followed by a pair of free throws from both Kennedy Wenger and Katelyn Cox to hit a 7-0 lead.
Black Hawk didn’t score until just over two minutes ticked off the clock, with Raylin Peterson sinking two shots inside the paint within 40 seconds of each other to bring the Warriors within three points.
Wenger responded with a two of her own for Mineral Point before Maddy Lange added a two for Black Hawk to pull within three points yet again.
The next four minutes saw the Pointers go on a 7-2 run, where Breana Goninen and Laci Lindsey both sank a three in addition to a free throw by Cox while, Peterson drove to the hoop for yet another two-pointer for the Warriors.
At 8:51, Black Hawk head coach Cora Lierman called a timeout as the Warriors faced a 16-8 deficit, but what stood out was actually from the Mineral Point bench.
“They’re playing harder than us, they’re more physical than us,” screamed Pointers head coach Michael Keyes. “Their game plan is what’s going on — wake up.”
The main reason for Mineral Point’s success thus far in the game lay in their pressure as it played a suffocating full-court press that got points off turnovers and tonight was no different — including twos from Kabat and Wenger off turnovers following the timeout.
Jaliyah Collins responded with a two of her own before Lindsey hit her second three of the night for the Pointers, followed by a pair of free throws by Hailey Wellnitz, to bring the score to 23-12 in favor of Mineral Point.
This back-and-forth affair continued, as the Pointers inched their lead further while the clock continued to tick toward zeroes for the first half, eventually seeing the score hit 34-19 for Mineral Point as the buzzer rang out.
Going into the locker room down 34-19, the Warriors needed to make changes. To that end, Black Hawk cracked down hard in the second half, only allowing three 3-pointers in the second half from the Pointers — the first by Cox at 17:12, next by Watters at 11:59, and lastly with Lindsey tallying her fourth three of the night at 5:40, extending Mineral Point’s lead to 20 points, 53-33, all but sealing the Warriors’ fate.
“[Mineral] Point has so many threats on offense that we had to try and pick and choose our battles, and unfortunately they had an answer to everything,” said Lierman. “They’re a very good team, and we really enjoyed playing with them.”
Less than 30 seconds later, the Pointers’ Wenger tossed in her final two of the night, as Keyes subbed in backups with Mineral Point holding a 55-33 lead with only 5:11 to play.
Nearly three minutes ran off the clock before Black Hawk sank its final basket of the game by way of Veronica Cheatham inside the paint following a spin around two Pointer defenders and close pressure by Raegan Galle.
From 1:40 to the end, Mineral Point saw eight more points added to its score column — first from a two by Morgan Lee, next from two free throws by Galle at 1:05, then Lee hit another two with 34.3 to go, and Lee also tallied the final field goal of the game inside the paint off a pass from Jadyn Schultz, as the clock ticked down to 18.8.
“A huge credit to coach Keyes and his crew, they have a solid basketball program there,” said Lierman. “I was overall very pleased with how our girls came out and were able to keep the scoring difference to a minimum. I was proud of Hailey Wellnitz for stepping up and putting up some big points for us when it mattered. We learn and we move forward.”
