MONTICELLO — Heidi Olson, Molly Olson, and Annie Olson combined for 45 points and Albany-Monticello’s defense held Shullsburg scoreless for much of the first half in a 61-30 win over the Miners on in a Six Rivers Conference crossover game on Friday, Feb. 13.
A steal and a layup by freshman Annie Olson staked AM to a 10-4 lead with 14:24 left in the first half. Sophomore Heidi Olson made a couple of baskets and freshman Emersen Butts made a free throw around a basket by Shullsburg’s Adaline Woodworth with 9:20 left before halftime and AM with a 16-7 lead. That would be the last points scored by Shullsburg in the first half. Heidi Olson scored off a nice assist by sophomore Emma Thompson, freshman Emersen Butts scored inside, and Heidi Olson made one of three free throws to give AM a 25-7 lead at halftime.
The Space Stallions continued with their hot shooting and relentless defense in the second half. Senior Molly Olson scored in transition and Heidi Olson knocked down a three to put he Space Stallions in front 45-13. Molly Olson made two free throws with 7:22 left and sophomore Raegan Hollis got a layup off a picture-perfect ball fake to give AM a 56-21 lead. The Space Stallions closed their scoring with a three by Annie Olson and a layup by Heidi Olson.
Shullsburg (14-8) had some open looks and layup attempts but could not get those shots to fall. Albany-Monticello’s defense wears out opponents and their precision offense makes it tough for teams to compete. If you turn the ball over, or miss a shot, the Space Stallions will make you pay.
Heidi Olson led AM in scoring with 24 points. Molly Olson had 11 points and Annie Olson scored 10 points. Shullsburg was led by Isabelle Wiegel with eight points.
Albany-Monticello coach Derik Doescher said a loss to Barneveld in the previous game provided the Space Stallions an incentive to focus and play well against Shullsburg.
“I think it helped that we had a little extra motivation after Tuesday’s loss to Barneveld. This program is not used to losing and those young ladies are competitors and they took it to heart. That was a tough loss. We had two really good days of practice to prepare for a really good Shullsburg team, and they brought it tonight and I knew they would,” said Doescher.
Albany-Monticello (21-2, 11-2 Six Rivers East) closes out the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 19 with a home game at Albany against the Juda Panthers.
