LANCASTER — At the beginning of the girls basketball season, no one could have guessed that a matchup of Argyle-Pecatonica playing against Lancaster would be a game between two teams ranked in the top ten in their divisions.
AP (18-3) came in ranked No. 3 in the Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports girls basketball media poll in Division 5 and Lancaster (21-1) was ranked No. 6 in that same poll in Division 3.
Argyle-Pecatonica went on the road and thumped the Flying Arrows 66-50 in nonconference action on Tuesday, Feb. 17. That is the exact same score as AP’s win over Belmont in their previous game on Friday, Feb. 13.
Senior Kylie Butler knocked down five three pointers and led the 78ers with 27 points. Junior Brooke Wellnitz had 18 points and junior Avari Steiner added nine points and connected on five of seven free throws.
Lancaster was led by freshman Lexie Olmstead with 19 points.
AP (19-3, 12-1 Six Rivers East) continues its tough schedule as they closed out the regular season with a conference game at Barneveld scheduled on Thursday, Feb. 19. The 78ers have the No. 1 seed in their bracket in the Division 5 regionals and will play Benton in Argyle in a regional quarterfinal on Tuesday, Feb. 24.
Barneveld 54, Darlington 47
BARNEVELD — Despite four players scoring in double figures, the Darlington Redbirds lost to the Barneveld Eagles 54-47 in nonconference girls basketball on Monday, Feb. 16.
Junior Lily Ritchie led a balanced attack with 11 points and six rebounds for the Birds. Senior Maddie Gratz had an equally impressive game with 10 points and six rebounds. Darlington also got 10 points from senior Catie Harwig and freshman Kayli Buschor.
Darlington (16-7, 10-3 SWAL) got back into SWAL conference action on Thursday, Feb. 19 with a home game scheduled against Riverdale. They won’t play again until eight days later when they travel to Brodhead to face the Cardinals in a WIAA Division 4 Regional semifinal on Friday, Feb. 27.
Turner 58, Brodhead 42
BRODHEAD — The Brodhead Cardinals ran into some tough sledding against the Turner Trojans on Monday, Feb. 16, falling behind by 13 points at halftime and losing 58-42 in Rock Valley Conference, Rock Division action.
The loss dropped the Cardinals into a two-way tie for second place in the RVC-Rock with Turner with 10-4 conference records.
Freshman Ella Olson topped the Cardinals in scoring with 16 points. Senior Allie Dahl had 13 points and senior Taiya Hawkins got into double figures with 10 points. The Cardinals were faced with trying to overcome a 31-18 halftime deficit, but missed a lot of free throws, going just 10-22 for the game.
Brodhead (17-6) finished the regular season with a conference game at Clinton on Thursday, Feb. 19. The Cardinals have a bye in the first round of the Division 4 regionals and will host Darlington in a regional semifinal on Friday, Feb. 27.
Jefferson 57, Monroe 21
MONROE — The Monroe Cheesemakers hosted the first place Jefferson Eagles in Rock Valley Conference, Valley Division action on Monday, Feb. 16 in the final home game of the regular season. The Eagles took a 25-11 halftime lead and soared past the Cheesemakers 57-21.
Before the game, the Cheesemakers honored their three seniors, Alexis Gertsch, Lauryn Quinn, and Sophie Conway playing in their final home game.
Gertsch led the Cheesemakers in scoring with six points and Conway had five points. Quinn started but did not score.
Monroe (7-16, 1-12) was scheduled to play at Whitewater in the final game of the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 19. The Cheesemakers open the WIAA Division 2 playoffs with a game at Baraboo on Tuesday, Feb. 24 in a regional quarterfinal.
