NEW GLARUS — In a series of unfortunate events for the Knights, Mineral Point used an 18-0 run in the final four minutes of a nonconference game on Monday, Dec. 18 to defeat No. 3-ranked New Glarus 59-48. The Knights’ final point came on a free throw from Payton Schneider at 4:19, while their last field goal was an easy bucket from Bella Brenkman near the six-minute mark.

“One thing I can almost promise is that we will play again. That’s the good thing,” New Glarus head coach Kevin Parman said.  “We have to go back and watch the last four minutes of each half. We can see what mistakes we made and grow from there. That’s all you can do.”

Parman may not be wrong about seeing the Pointers again, as Mineral Point and New Glarus have met the last two seasons in the playoffs. 

In 2022, Mineral Point defeated New Glarus in a sectional final 63-43. That year, the Pointers went undefeated in claiming the Division 4 title. New Glarus flipped the script last season, defeating Mineral Point 63-43 in a regional final. The Knights then lost to Cuba City 56-50 in a sectional semifinal.

The beginning of Monday’s game showed the two teams had history, as the Knights and Pointers tied the game once and exchanged the lead four times in a matter of five minutes. Elle Lancaster’s 3-pointer gave New Glarus a lead the team kept for the majority of the half.

“The first half I came out shooting decent, at least,” Lancaster said. “We were playing really well and getting good looks.”

On an inbounds play, Emma Martinson swung the ball over to Lancaster at the top of the key for a contested three that she sank. The basket gave the Knights an 8-6 advantage and sparked a 13-2 run.

In that span, Lindsey Schadewalt scored six points and her final bucket that rattled around the rim put New Glarus ahead 18-8 with eight minutes in the first frame.

That’s when Mineral Point’s run began. Ella Kroll dribbled between two defenders for two in the paint, beginning a 13-point rally.

Martinson then turned the ball over, attempting to save it from going out of bounds, leading to two more points for MP. She then fouled Laci Lindsey, sending Lindsey to the line for a pair of free throws.

In the final minute of the half, Lindsey sunk a 3-pointer from the left side of the key, and Belle Watters took a steal down for two points and 21-20 Pointer lead going into the locker room.

Martinson quickly regained the lead for New Glarus with a baseline jumper. The Knights then took advantage of Pointer errors to take a 30-21 advantage.

After another Lancaster bucket, Mineral Point called a timeout to bail out a player trapped in the corner. On the subsequent inbounds play, the Pointers were called for a five-second violation. Receiving the ball on a turnover, Schadewalt went down the court and banked a 3-pointer — while also drawing a foul on Eliza Ingwell. Schadewalt made the and-one to complete the four-point play. She went back to the line with a foul from Maddy Kabat and made both her shots for a 30-21 advantage.

The Pointers responded to get within two points (38-35), forcing the Knights to call a timeout.

“Tempo was good and bad depending on the play,” Lancaster said. “We get flustered after something bad happens, so we just need to calm down.”

The tactic worked, as New Glarus responded to build its second 10-point lead of the game.

Martinson dribbled down the right side of the floor and used the basket as an extra defender on a left-handed layup. Schadewalt made another and-one, and Lancaster assisted Schneider for the 45-35 lead with seven minutes remaining.

However, New Glarus made just one more field goal in the game — a Brenkman bucket off a Martinson assist.

With just under four minutes left in the game Izzy Dannenberg made an easy bucket from the right block, beginning Mineral Point’s run. Watters then drained back-to-back threes for a 49-48 lead, forcing a Knight timeout.

Fouls compounded the problem for New Glarus, as Schneider picked up her fourth and fifth fouls in a span of 17 seconds. Schneider’s fifth foul was called on a controversial play, where Kroll appeared to trip over Schneider’s feet. As she left the court, Schneider argued the call, resulting in a technical. 

“It’s about self-control. We have to handle what is in our control, and that is not in ours,” Parman said of the calls. “If we let it get to us, it starts that bad cycle. We just have to focus on what we can change and keep working on that.”

Schneider’s fifth foul put the Pointers in bonus with 39.3 seconds left in the game, so Kroll had four opportunities at the free-throw line — the two bonus, assuming she made the first, and two more for the technical. Kroll made three shots for a 52-48 lead.

From that point on, New Glarus was forced to foul, hoping the Pointers would miss and the Knights could regain possession and score. Instead, Mineral Point was 10-for-12 at the charity stripe with eight of those points coming from Kroll. As the buzzer sounded, the Pointers walked off the court with a 59-48 win.

“This was big. I wish we had a good outcome,” Lancaster said. “At least we can learn from it, and we know what to do. We can watch good film and go from there.”

Four players scored in double figures for Mineral Point, led by Lindsey with 14 points.

The Pointer defense limited Schadewalt to 17 points, which is below her season average of 28.3 ppg. Despite the performance, Schadewalt is still the seventh-highest scorer in the state with 255 points. She is on pace to score 2,000 career points at the end of January. Lancaster also finished in double figures with 10 points with a pair of threes.

The loss was just the second this season for New Glarus — the last coming to the No. 9 team in Division 1 Oregon. However, it dropped the Knights from No. 3 in the Week 3 Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association Poll to No. 8 in Week 4.

New Glarus will need to rebound quickly, as its next game is the Capitol Conference opener.

“What happens after this? Do we come out and lay an egg on Thursday, or do we fix our mistakes and come out with a little fire and get it done,” Parman said.