NEW GLARUS — The eighth-ranked Cardinals nearly let a 20-point lead slip away in a nonconference road game at New Glarus Jan. 17. Instead, Brodhead made just enough plays when it mattered most to secure a 51-36 victory.

“I can’t say enough about our kids. They beat a very quality New Glarus team. I’m just so darn proud of them,” said Brodhead coach Brian Kammerer. “Potentially down the road we’re playing each other again. They are a good enough team, they’ll be in the regional semifinal or regional final.”

Brodhead used a 22-3 run in the middle of the first half to go up 27-7 with 5:52 remaining before the intermission. Keying the run were some open 3-pointers.

“We talked about it after the game – we need to be more balanced; more people knocking down shots so we’re not so much one-dimensional,” New Glarus coach Kevin Parman said. “They did a great job with it and it showed. We also have talent, we just have to find that ‘next spot.’”

The Glarner Knights closed the half on a 9-2 run, however, shrinking the deficit to 29-16 at the break.

In the second half, Brodhead again went up by as much as 20 points (43-23) on a triple by Onnikah Oliver with 8:06 remaining. However, over those final six minutes, New Glarus didn’t simply give into defeat, instead upped the pressure on the defensive side of the ball, forcing turnovers and creating offense. 

With just under four minutes to play, New Glarus had possession and trailed by 12, but a 3-pointer kept the score from getting cut to single digits. Had the bucket sank, the outcome might well have been very different.

“I can’t say enough about our team defense and the way we came out and were ready to play. New Glarus is a great team and well coached. In that second half, they flat out out-played us. When you’re down 15-20 points, you could just coach and finish out the game. But Coach Parman did a heckuva job getting them to play tooth and nail,” Kammerer said. Then we started turning the ball over and it was almost a single digit game.”

Adding to the building tension was the fact that Brodhead’s star senior guard Kiarra Moe got into foul trouble, while star junior forward, Abbie Dix, had left the game earlier in the second with an ankle injury. She came back into play down the stretch. 

“Abbie was milking that ankle, and I know she was leery about coming in. But she also knew that without her, it was maybe a different result at the end.”

Instead of letting the Knights continue to up the pace and tighten the score, the Cardinals were able to outscore the Knights 6-3 over the final 3:15 of the contest to seal the win.

“When you are going to make those late runs, everyone has to be all-in, and we were all-in. The girls were a little upset that they didn’t play harder to start,” Parman said. You can’t just do that and go through the motions, otherwise you give up easy buckets. We have to pick up the intensity when we first step onto the floor, and not just when we’re down 20.”

Offensively, Brodhead was pretty well balanced, with Kiarra Moe and Abbie Dix each tallying 14 points. Oliver finished with 10 and Addie Yates chipped in with eight. 

The story of the game may have actually been Oliver’s defense. She spent nearly the entire night chasing around New Glarus sophomore shooting guard Lindsey Schadewalt, holding her to just six points – 14 below her season average.

“The one kid that probably doesn’t get enough credit is Onni Oliver. She guards every team’s best guard. To hold a kind like Schadewalt to six points tonight, I can’t say enough about her effort,” Kammerer said. “It was still a team effort, but Onni is just a go-getter; she leads by example. Once you see her get going, the rest of the team just has to step it up.”

Forward Alex Atwell led the Knights in scoring with 13 points, and went toe-to-toe with Dix in the paint on both ends of the court, a feat in and of itself. 

“It’s a good learning for us. We have to show up and work hard in practice – we can’t win games against good teams just by showing up,” Parman said.

Up next for the Cardinals (14-2, 10-2 Rock Valley) is a tough few matchups against Evansville (4-6, 5-10), Clinton (9-6, 6-4) and McFarland (11-3, 8-2) on Jan. 20, 25 and 28.

“I think we’d be ignorant to think it’s going to be a cakewalk in the second half. There are a lot of giants that we have to play on the road. We know that we have a target on our back and that we have to be ready to play right away,” Kammerer said.

New Glarus (11-4, 3-1 Capitol South) is at Cambridge (9-5, 2-1) Jan. 20, then home against Lodi (3-11) on Jan. 25 and Belleville (12-1, 3-0) Jan. 28.