DARLINGTON — While the final score of Tuesday’s home showdown against Mineral Point (14-3, 8-2 SWAL) reflected a loss for Darlington (13-6, 7-3), 48-38, the Redbirds still rallied for a win on the night as over $2,000 was raised in the fight against cancer.
Darlington traded punches with the Pointers throughout the first half, and the Redbirds also netted the first points of the night.
Maddie Gratz (11 pts, 2 reb) put down a bucket on the opening possession and Zoie Zuberbuhler (8 pts, 2 reb) made the most of fast break opportunity after Mineral Point gave itself second-and-third-chance shots.
The Pointers tied the game up with a pair of field goals over the next minute, and Zuberbuhler broke the tie with a layup as Mineral Point struggled to transition.
Gratz pushed the advantage a pair of points further, scoring on her own steal.
Darlington overcame a full-court press for Aubrey McCarthy (4 pts, 2 reb, 2 stl) to score a two, mostly erasing a 3-point gain moments earlier from the Pointers.
Another two was in the hands of the Redbirds as Jaidyn Evenstad (4 pts, 7 reb, 4 ast) came down with a defensive rebound, and marched down the court for a layup. The 12-7 split favoring Darlington at 13:24 was enough to force a timeout from Mineral Point.
No matter what the Pointers did to the halftime buzzer, the Redbirds had an answer, and the offensive focus wasn’t on one player.
Evenstad, Sadie Goebel (4 pts, 4 reb), Ava Hendrickson (2 pts, 4 reb), and Zuberbuhler split up scoring duties to keep Darlington tied or ahead of Mineral Point.
On the Pointers’ side of the court, their usual offensive prowess was leaving much to be desired. Their leading scorer — Laci Lindsey (13 pts, — was largely ineffective, as she shot 2-for-6 from the field in the first half, including one, 2-pointer and one, 3-pointer.
A 24-22 lead belonged to the Redbirds following a pair of made free throws from Zuberbuhler with 3:42 to play in the half.
Darlington efficiently took time off the clock, working it down to 1:26, but Blair Watters (7 pts, 9 reb) made a play for the ball, scooping up a Lylah Norgard (1 reb) miss.
Watters wrestled the ball away from Alyza Johnson (2 pts, 1 reb) and Norgard, firing a pass to Breanna Goninen (5 pts, 3 reb).
Goninen pushed down court, and a couple of passes later, Belle Watters (8 pts, 5 reb) tied the game with 1:10 left. Neither squad made a shot by the buzzer.
The offset of the second half featured much different Redbird and Mineral Point squads than those that went into the locker room. The Pointers racked up a 19-3 run over the first 7:25 of the half that all but sealed the game.
Darlington climbed to within nine points with 4:12 to play, but Mineral Point didn’t relent to the final bell.
