ALBANY — The Comets entered the season as one of the heavy favorites to make a run to the state tournament in Green Bay in Division 5.

One of the toughest tests along the way just happened to come in Game 2 on Nov. 19. Albany, playing without injured point guard Payton Wachholz, was out-sized, out-rebounded, out-shot and simply out-played by Belleville, falling 62-54.

“No excuses — we talk about how other girls have to step up, and obviously we miss Payton — she’s a two-time all-conference player. She and our other guards dictate the speed of the game, but we also knew Belleville was going to be very good this year,” Albany coach Derik Doescher said. “They start five seniors. We knew it would be a battle.”

Wachholz is an all-conference guard and was the team’s second-leading scorer last year, but she is sidelined with an ankle injury and is likely out for another 1-2 weeks. That means others will have to step up in her place.

“It burns just a little bit,” Albany senior Brianna Dahl said of the loss. “It will definitely push us to come back harder, especially in practice. We’re trying to find ourselves right now, especially with Payton out. She’s one of our leading scorers so we have to fill that spot. A lot of players will have to step up.”

Belleville also brings size to the table, especially in the form of forward Callie Smith, who tallied 16 rebounds, five steals and 11 points for the Wildcats. As a team, Belleville grabbed 50 rebounds and stole the ball 10 times. Albany finished with 16 turnovers, while forcing 19 Wildcat turnovers.

“I’m very proud of our kids. We missed some shots, we missed some free throws late, but at the end of the day, as I told them in the locker room, we did enough offensively — even not playing our best — to win that game. It really came down to defense; rebounding; getting stops. The rebounding was huge. They had to have a clear difference on the boards, and at the end of the day, that was the difference,” Doescher said.

The game opened with Albany hitting jump shots and hanging toe-to-toe at the rim, jumping out to an 18-7 lead at the 10:57 mark in the first half after Alana Durtschi stole a pass and hit Gracie Freitag in the paint in transition for a bucket. That capped a 14-2 run by the Comets, and Belleville coach Tony Pharo called his second timeout of the half in an attempt to calm down his players.

The move worked, as Belleville went on a 21-9 run to close out the first half and take a 28-27 lead into the locker room.

In the opening minutes of the second half, Belleville saw it’s lead grow to as much as six points after a 3-pointer by Kenna Edge, which made it 40-34. The Comets upped the defensive pressure and forced six turnovers over the next three minutes all while running off a 10-0 run and retaking the lead at 44-40 with 10:03 left to play.

Albany’s last lead stood at the 7:36 mark, as Edge scored with a bucket and a free throw to even it at 48. A block by Mickey Stampfl gave the Wildcats the possession again, and Smith scored on a putback with 7:03 left in the half to give Belleville the lead for good. Over the final seven minutes, Belleville outscored Albany 12-6.

“I told our team that Belleville will finish first or second in the Capitol Conference. We went toe-to-toe with a Division 4 team that will do very well,” Doescher said. “We learn, and we’ll get better from it.”

Stampfl had 14 points, six rebounds and four assists for the Wildcats, while Lainey Winkers finished with seven rebounds and five points. Edge capped her night with eight points and five boards, and Ava Foley led her team with 16 points and nine rebounds. 

Neither team shot well from the charity stripe. Albany was 9 of 18 in the game, and just 5 of 12 in the second half. Meanwhile, Belleville was 5-for-14 in the game, and just 3-for-12 after halftime.

“Callie Smith is an absolute beast and is hard to keep off the boards. We stressed it all week, but she’s very athletic and tough-minded. Their guards are tough minded in Stampfl and Foley — they just keep coming,” Doescher said.

Durtschi, just a sophomore, led the Comets with 20 points.

“She is Miss Fundamental — she’s always under control, she’s always fundamentally sound and she sees the floor so well. When you give her time and give her some space, she’s got great form and will knock down some shots,” Doescher said. “She has made that huge stride. What we like most about her is her body language and her calmness — she’s never too high and she’s never too low. Only being a sophomore, we’re looking forward to some big things from her.”

Brianna Dahl scored 12 points for Albany, while Kaiya Zurfluh tallied 10 and Avary Briggs eight. Dahl was honored before the game with a trophy case and game ball from a win three days earlier when Albany defeated Benton in the season opener. Dahl made a free throw to reach the career 1,000-point mark in the win. She is just the second player in program history to eclipse the milestone mark, and the sixth in school history. Her brother, Tyler, scored 1,402 in his career, second all-time in school history to Isaiah Shell (1,595). Amy Golz (1,166), a 2008 graduate, holds the record for the girls.

“It’s something to push me, now, I guess, because I’m trying to beat my brother’s record,” Brianna Dahl said. “It’s pretty cool. It kind of stunk that I was one point away from it my junior year. But it’s nice getting it at the beginning of the year, maybe setting the tone.”

Doescher has been impressed with Dahl’s athleticism, drive and leadership since joining the varsity roster as a freshman.

“She’s only the second girl in Albany history to get there. She’s a special player. I know she feels she didn’t do enough to win today, but I can confidently say that if she is not on our squad, we are not even in a lot of these games. She’s a difference maker. She does a little bit of everything and has just been a great kid to coach,” Doescher said.

Up next for Albany is a slew of nonconference games, starting with a Nov. 23 matchup at Belmont, followed by a tough road game at Brodhead. The Comets are back at home Dec. 3 against Palmyra-Eagle.

Belleville hosts Barneveld Nov. 23, then is at Shullsburg Nov. 30 before hosting Parkview Dec. 3.