NEW GLARUS - One needs look no further than Dani Pickett's legs to find out what sort of grit went into the Glarner Knights pulling out a 46-40 girls basketball victory over Sugar River rival Belleville on Tuesday night.
"I was on the floor a lot tonight and I'm bruised up and down my legs," said the senior shooting guard Pickett who, despite the gritty atmosphere, led all scorers with 17.
Pickett got acquainted with the hardwood inside and out, but none of her spills received louder cheers than when she slid backwards away from the arc after splashing the 3-pointer that gave New Glarus a 34-32 lead with 6:32 left to play in the Capitol South contest.
Knights senior Shanna Karls, who got on her teammates and pounded the floor with impatience during an 18-12 third quarter that made up for a 20-13 halftime deficit, turned the screws on the knockout blow after a physical hoop off the glass by Wildcats junior Jessica O'Connor tied things at 34-apiece.
With her back to the basket from 13 feet out, Karls spiked a forceful, but pinpoint, accurate bounce pass to sophomore Michelle Preston, who buried a rainmaker from the corner that put the Knights up for good.
Just to drive things home, the New Glarus (5-3, 2-1 Capitol South) press that unraveled Belleville (3-6, 1-1) throughout the second half forced a steal after Preston's trifecta. Karls drove strong to the rim before bouncing another sound pass to classmate Kendra Mussehl for an uncontested lay-in and a 39-34 lead.
"Even though (Karls is) not always a scorer, she's always the number one hustler and will get on any loose ball to pump up her team," New Glarus coach Braden Rindy said. "She's just a great person that anyone would want on their team."
"They're right across the street and are always a conference rival" Karls said. "We always play them the hardest and it comes down to who wants it more and who has more heart."
Four frustrating Belleville minutes later, Pickett again embraced the physical component of play, tearing down a rebound in traffic and making good on the front end after being fouled by Wildcats freshman Quinn Rear.
Rear, who led Belleville with 12 points and scored its first five points of the game, buried her third long ball to pull within three points at 40-37, but late free throws by Karls and sophomore Alissa Siegenthaler put things on ice. The underclassman hit her first two freebies, her first two shots of the game, with 25 ticks left on the clock to push the lead back to six at 44-38.
The second half of the game had the makings of a knock-down, drag-out rivalry. The first half, not so much.
"The first half was slow and both teams were feeling each other out," Rindy said.
But the Knights' press, coupled with a devastating sequence by Mussehl and Hannah Rotar, led to the breakout third quarter for the hosts.
"We thought it would be a good idea to space out the inside because it was clustered," Rindy said. "It worked and Hannah took control."
After a Mussehl putback pulled the Knights within one with 5:30 left in the third at 21-20, the fiery senior captain rifled a textbook bounce pass to Rotar just within the free throw line, where the 6-1 post buried a jumper to take the first New Glarus lead since being up 2-0.
After Pickett and O'Connor exchanged triples, Mussehl offered a second lesson in entry passing, duplicating the last assist to Rotar inside. The duo tandemed one more time half a minute later as Rotar slipped away from Jackie Walejko down low and finished with her left.
"It's great when things start clicking," Pickett said. "Especially with Kendra and Hannah. When they're fired up, everybody's fired up."
"They just did a great job of getting her the ball when we were out of position," Belleville head coach Chad Hodgson said. "Rotar just used her body like a good post player should and flat out beat us."
Rotar finished with 12 points, eight of which came in the third.
The Wildcats will need a short-term memory beginning at tomorrow's 5:30 practice as they prepare for Friday's clash with Capitol favorite Cambridge, which edged Wisconsin Heights, 57-52, in overtime Tuesday night.
"They're gonna come at us hard and they're not going to care that we lost," O'Connor said.
The come-from-behind win puts the defending conference champion Knights right in the thick of things. The victory was Rindy's first signature win of his varsity coaching career, and now a precedent has been set.
"That's the best the press has looked," Rindy said. "They just decided they wanted it, got after it and now they know they can play that way so I'll expect it from here on."
"I was on the floor a lot tonight and I'm bruised up and down my legs," said the senior shooting guard Pickett who, despite the gritty atmosphere, led all scorers with 17.
Pickett got acquainted with the hardwood inside and out, but none of her spills received louder cheers than when she slid backwards away from the arc after splashing the 3-pointer that gave New Glarus a 34-32 lead with 6:32 left to play in the Capitol South contest.
Knights senior Shanna Karls, who got on her teammates and pounded the floor with impatience during an 18-12 third quarter that made up for a 20-13 halftime deficit, turned the screws on the knockout blow after a physical hoop off the glass by Wildcats junior Jessica O'Connor tied things at 34-apiece.
With her back to the basket from 13 feet out, Karls spiked a forceful, but pinpoint, accurate bounce pass to sophomore Michelle Preston, who buried a rainmaker from the corner that put the Knights up for good.
Just to drive things home, the New Glarus (5-3, 2-1 Capitol South) press that unraveled Belleville (3-6, 1-1) throughout the second half forced a steal after Preston's trifecta. Karls drove strong to the rim before bouncing another sound pass to classmate Kendra Mussehl for an uncontested lay-in and a 39-34 lead.
"Even though (Karls is) not always a scorer, she's always the number one hustler and will get on any loose ball to pump up her team," New Glarus coach Braden Rindy said. "She's just a great person that anyone would want on their team."
"They're right across the street and are always a conference rival" Karls said. "We always play them the hardest and it comes down to who wants it more and who has more heart."
Four frustrating Belleville minutes later, Pickett again embraced the physical component of play, tearing down a rebound in traffic and making good on the front end after being fouled by Wildcats freshman Quinn Rear.
Rear, who led Belleville with 12 points and scored its first five points of the game, buried her third long ball to pull within three points at 40-37, but late free throws by Karls and sophomore Alissa Siegenthaler put things on ice. The underclassman hit her first two freebies, her first two shots of the game, with 25 ticks left on the clock to push the lead back to six at 44-38.
The second half of the game had the makings of a knock-down, drag-out rivalry. The first half, not so much.
"The first half was slow and both teams were feeling each other out," Rindy said.
But the Knights' press, coupled with a devastating sequence by Mussehl and Hannah Rotar, led to the breakout third quarter for the hosts.
"We thought it would be a good idea to space out the inside because it was clustered," Rindy said. "It worked and Hannah took control."
After a Mussehl putback pulled the Knights within one with 5:30 left in the third at 21-20, the fiery senior captain rifled a textbook bounce pass to Rotar just within the free throw line, where the 6-1 post buried a jumper to take the first New Glarus lead since being up 2-0.
After Pickett and O'Connor exchanged triples, Mussehl offered a second lesson in entry passing, duplicating the last assist to Rotar inside. The duo tandemed one more time half a minute later as Rotar slipped away from Jackie Walejko down low and finished with her left.
"It's great when things start clicking," Pickett said. "Especially with Kendra and Hannah. When they're fired up, everybody's fired up."
"They just did a great job of getting her the ball when we were out of position," Belleville head coach Chad Hodgson said. "Rotar just used her body like a good post player should and flat out beat us."
Rotar finished with 12 points, eight of which came in the third.
The Wildcats will need a short-term memory beginning at tomorrow's 5:30 practice as they prepare for Friday's clash with Capitol favorite Cambridge, which edged Wisconsin Heights, 57-52, in overtime Tuesday night.
"They're gonna come at us hard and they're not going to care that we lost," O'Connor said.
The come-from-behind win puts the defending conference champion Knights right in the thick of things. The victory was Rindy's first signature win of his varsity coaching career, and now a precedent has been set.
"That's the best the press has looked," Rindy said. "They just decided they wanted it, got after it and now they know they can play that way so I'll expect it from here on."
