BRODHEAD — With both New Glarus and Brodhead teams looking vastly different than last year, each was looking for a player to guide their inexperienced crews in their season openers. For New Glarus, it was three-year starter senior Elle Lancaster that stepped up to the plate, scoring 17 points in her team’s 55-37 win over Brodhead on Nov. 22.
“Elle did a great job,” New Glarus head coach Kevin Parman said. “She needs to be our senior leader. She did a great job of keeping her head and bringing those younger girls along, and that’s what it’s gonna take the rest of this year.”
New Glarus graduated all but Lancaster from its starting lineup — Division I Maryville basketball player Lindsey Schadewalt, Bella Brenkman, Emma Martinson and early graduate Payton Schneider. Other seniors — Anya Brenkman and Eve MacLean — had some varsity experience coming off the bench.
The same turnover affected Brodhead. The Cardinals graduated three starters in Addison Yates, Onni Williams and Brenley Jones. Rock Valley Conference Player of the Year Allie Dahl and senior Makenna Schooff return to lead a group with little varsity experience.
Early on, Schooff — Brodhead’s only senior — took the reins. She knotted the game at 4-4 with a pair of free throws and gave the Cardinals their first lead with a bucket from beyond the arc.
But fouls began to rack up for both teams, as the Knights and Cardinals struggled to adjust to the pace of play.
With Taiya Hawkins’s second foul, New Glarus set up under the basket for an out-of-bounds play. Lancaster came off a screen to the corner of the floor and drained a 3-pointer, making it a 12-9 game. Ellie Brenkman assisted Kalia Malaise on a fast break, and Lancaster scored off a steal to give the Knights a 13-12 lead.
From that point on, New Glarus never trailed.
“I was proud of them for not giving up when they did get down because that was the first bit of adversity that they had to deal with,” Coach Parman said of the early deficit and comeback. “It always starts on the defensive end. They got that steal, and I think they got a little bit more excited because some of them were pretty tired. Some of them didn’t get very many breaks, so that little bit of a boost put us over the edge and carried us through.”
The quick pace and aggressive play continued, as both teams reached bonus with eight minutes left in the first half.
Brodhead received a small spark from Annelise Bethke, who took a charge from Anya Brenkman. On the other end of the floor, Bethke drew another foul on Annabelle Curl, earning a trip to the free-throw line. Although she missed the bonus shot, Dahl grabbed the offensive rebound and dished it to Gretchen Kammerer, who also drew a foul and went to the line for two points.
But it was New Glarus that entered halftime with the momentum. Lancaster assisted Malaise, giving the Knights a 10-point lead with just under four minutes in the period. Minutes later, as the buzzer sounded, Lancaster drained a 3-pointer, making it 30-17.
Going into the locker room, each head coach had to evaluate its bench. Five Knights had two fouls — Malaise, Curl, MacLean, Kate Parman and Anya Brenkman. For the Cardinals, Hawkins and Schooff had three fouls, while Dahl and Chesney Walker had two. Between the two teams, 23 fouls were committed in the first half.
Another anomaly was that Dahl did not score. The junior averaged 18.9 ppg last season and was named the Rock Valley Conference Player of the Year.
“We had to know where Allie was,” coach Parman said. “They did a great job. I told them that at halftime, she was zero (points) and they didn’t know that. They were pretty excited, so it was a great team effort.”
But Dahl quickly broke her scoring drought, recording Brodhead’s first eight points of the second period. Her side-out bucket, assisted by Schooff, got the Cardinals back within 10 points.
New Glarus responded, going on a 10-point run. MacLean went 1-for-2 from the line and provided a screen for Lancaster, who drained her third 3-pointer. Malaise, Anya Brenkman and Marie Besley also got in on the scoring.
Although Kammerer and Dahl scored at intervals, the Knights once again reached bonus with nearly eight minutes left in the contest. New Glarus maintained its lead to the end by converting free throws.
“We got the ‘W’ so we’re excited, but we’ve got a lot of work to do,” Coach Parman said. “The kids are energized and willing to learn, and this’ll just help us grow.”
New Glarus 55,
Brodhead 37
(Friday, Nov. 22 at Brodhead)
New Glarus … 30 25 — 55
Brodhead …… 17 20 — 37
New Glarus (1-0, 0-0 Capitol South) — Elle Lancaster 17, Kalia Malaise 12, Anya Brenkman 9, Eve MacLean 5, Kate Parman 4, Ellie Brenkman 4, Marie Besley 4.
Brodhead (0-1, 0-0 Rock Valley Rock) — Allie Dahl 11, Gretchen Kammerer 11, Danica Demrow 6, Makenna Schooff 5, Chesney Walker 3, Annelise Bethke 1.
Three-point Goals — NG: Ellie Brenkman 1, Lancaster 3; B: Walker 1, Dahl 1, Schooff 1. Free Throws — NG: 17-28; B: 10-20. Team Fouls — NG: 23; B: 22. Fouled Out — NG: Parman; B: Schooff.
