\BELLEVILLE - Junior Rachael Heittola couldn't wait to take the court with her Belleville teammates against rival New Glarus after missing the past three games with a concussion.
Heittola had a double-double in her return, scoring a team-high 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, to lead Belleville to a 54-40 win over New Glarus in the Capitol South Conference opener Friday night.
"I didn't want to sit out those three games I missed," Heittola said. "It was very important that I played. I wanted to play Monday, but the doctor wouldn't clear me until Friday. Being able to come back against New Glarus makes it even more special."
Belleville (6-4, 1-0 Capitol South) didn't waste any time getting the ball inside to the 6-foot, 2-inch Heittola. She was fouled in the post on the first possession and made two free throws. That helped set the tone and sparked the Wildcats to a 16-3 run to open the game in the first half.
Heittola and sophomore teammate Jenna Shrader both scored on putbacks to give the Wildcats a 14-3 lead with 12 minutes, 39 seconds left in the first half. Moments later, senior Aimee Sies had a steal and a layup to extend the Wildcats' lead to 13 points, at 16-3.
"We want to get the ball into her," Belleville coach Sean Greenleaf said of Heittola. "She obviously is our No. 1 option. If it's not there I have confidence that someone else will step up for us."
New Glarus (4-5, 0-1 Capitol South) shot 1 of 11 in the first 5 minutes. The Wildcats led by as many as 16 points in the first half. Shrader added 14 points and senior Kalin O'Rourke scored eight of her 10 points in the first half as the Wildcats took a 31-15 lead into the locker room.
Belleville had a big rebounding advantage at the half over the Glarner Knights 30-14. However, New Glarus outrebounded the Wildcats 19-17 in the second half. The Knights had 12 of their 17 turnovers in the first half. New Glarus shot 22.2 percent in the first half (6 of 27) compared to 37.5 percent for the Wildcats (9 of 24).
Having a 6-2 presence in Heittola on defense can help change the shots of opposing players. The Knights had opportunities, but the shots were just short or off.
"She (Heittola) is an outstanding player," New Glarus coach Kim Burton said. "We could have played inside-outside more. It's tough when none of your shots are falling."
Burton is looking forward to a Christmas break and then getting back to practice Tuesday.
"We just have to compete harder against each other in practice," Burton said. "They are almost too nice to one another. We have to take some time off and then focus and some areas where we need to work on individually and as a team. We have to play with a lot more intensity, compete and work on the fundamentals. We have to work on moving our feet when someone is driving to the basket. We have to do a better job of talking on defense."
New Glarus senior Willow Lee scored a game-high 17 points and had seven rebounds. Junior teammate Morgan Hustad added 5 points and senior Julia Barnaby had 5 points and eight rebounds.
Belleville led by as many as 22 points in the second half after Shrader made a free throw to give the Wildcats 40-18 lead with 11:44 left in the game. Shrader scored nine of her 14 points in the second half.
The Wildcats looked to penetrate the Knights' defense and get a layup or draw a foul.
"We are not a big 3-point shooting team," Heittola said. "We have to continue attacking the basket to try to get fouled and get to the line."
Despite the win, Belleville did commit 22 turnovers. Greenleaf likes getting the win to start out the conference season and to close out 2017.
"It's a nice Christmas present," he said. "We talked about this game before and what it would mean to win and start out with a win and some confidence in conference. It gives us the momentum to show us that we are here to stay. The girls all know each other. It's nice to compete hard with each other to start out conference."
Heittola had a double-double in her return, scoring a team-high 15 points and grabbing 14 rebounds, to lead Belleville to a 54-40 win over New Glarus in the Capitol South Conference opener Friday night.
"I didn't want to sit out those three games I missed," Heittola said. "It was very important that I played. I wanted to play Monday, but the doctor wouldn't clear me until Friday. Being able to come back against New Glarus makes it even more special."
Belleville (6-4, 1-0 Capitol South) didn't waste any time getting the ball inside to the 6-foot, 2-inch Heittola. She was fouled in the post on the first possession and made two free throws. That helped set the tone and sparked the Wildcats to a 16-3 run to open the game in the first half.
Heittola and sophomore teammate Jenna Shrader both scored on putbacks to give the Wildcats a 14-3 lead with 12 minutes, 39 seconds left in the first half. Moments later, senior Aimee Sies had a steal and a layup to extend the Wildcats' lead to 13 points, at 16-3.
"We want to get the ball into her," Belleville coach Sean Greenleaf said of Heittola. "She obviously is our No. 1 option. If it's not there I have confidence that someone else will step up for us."
New Glarus (4-5, 0-1 Capitol South) shot 1 of 11 in the first 5 minutes. The Wildcats led by as many as 16 points in the first half. Shrader added 14 points and senior Kalin O'Rourke scored eight of her 10 points in the first half as the Wildcats took a 31-15 lead into the locker room.
Belleville had a big rebounding advantage at the half over the Glarner Knights 30-14. However, New Glarus outrebounded the Wildcats 19-17 in the second half. The Knights had 12 of their 17 turnovers in the first half. New Glarus shot 22.2 percent in the first half (6 of 27) compared to 37.5 percent for the Wildcats (9 of 24).
Having a 6-2 presence in Heittola on defense can help change the shots of opposing players. The Knights had opportunities, but the shots were just short or off.
"She (Heittola) is an outstanding player," New Glarus coach Kim Burton said. "We could have played inside-outside more. It's tough when none of your shots are falling."
Burton is looking forward to a Christmas break and then getting back to practice Tuesday.
"We just have to compete harder against each other in practice," Burton said. "They are almost too nice to one another. We have to take some time off and then focus and some areas where we need to work on individually and as a team. We have to play with a lot more intensity, compete and work on the fundamentals. We have to work on moving our feet when someone is driving to the basket. We have to do a better job of talking on defense."
New Glarus senior Willow Lee scored a game-high 17 points and had seven rebounds. Junior teammate Morgan Hustad added 5 points and senior Julia Barnaby had 5 points and eight rebounds.
Belleville led by as many as 22 points in the second half after Shrader made a free throw to give the Wildcats 40-18 lead with 11:44 left in the game. Shrader scored nine of her 14 points in the second half.
The Wildcats looked to penetrate the Knights' defense and get a layup or draw a foul.
"We are not a big 3-point shooting team," Heittola said. "We have to continue attacking the basket to try to get fouled and get to the line."
Despite the win, Belleville did commit 22 turnovers. Greenleaf likes getting the win to start out the conference season and to close out 2017.
"It's a nice Christmas present," he said. "We talked about this game before and what it would mean to win and start out with a win and some confidence in conference. It gives us the momentum to show us that we are here to stay. The girls all know each other. It's nice to compete hard with each other to start out conference."
