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Unranked Kewaunee overcame a slow start to force overtime against fifth-ranked Manitowoc Lutheran in a girls WIAA Div. 4 sectional opener at Denmark March 6, but couldn’t get a friendly roll in the final two minutes in a 68-63 loss.
“It’s a high-energy, big-hype game,” said Kewaunee coach Lynn Geier. “If there’s a couple less offensive boards, a couple less transitions (baskets) and a little more execution, who knows? But the girls fought back, that’s the biggest thing.”
The Storm got a combined 50 points from juniors Jade Kroll (23), Gabby Stangel (17) and Breanna Riha (10), while seniors Brianna Demmin (11) and Lexie Hanrahan (2) added 13. Junior Lily Morton, the team’s second-leading rebounder, missed the game with an illness.
The Lancers got 21 points from junior Makiah Krause, 18 from senior Ginevra Ermis, 13 from junior Marissa Mehlhorn and 12 from senior Addison Korte.
Mehlhorn and Korte combined for 21 in the first half as Lutheran took a 31-27 lead.
It was 9-0 before Kroll connected on a three-pointer more than five and a half minutes into the game. Down 7, Demmin hit back-to-back baskets inside, but the Lancers answered and were up eight before Riha knocked down two straight triples.
Lutheran opened the second half on a 9-1 run, then stretched it to 43-31 before Kewaunee chipped away. Stangel hit two three-pointers in a four-minute span to cut it to 47-45 with 7:40 left, but the Lancers scored six straight before Hanrahan made a free throw and two baskets to pull within 53-50.
Kewaunee trailed 57-52 with 3:13 remaining, but a combination of missed free throws by the Lancers and some timely hoops — none more than Stangel’s three-pointer with five seconds left to tie it — gave the Storm a shot at overtime.
Kewaunee played from behind early, but Riha scored to tie it at 60 before the Storm gave up an offensive rebound, and the lead. Kroll then drove and scored, and made the plus-one free throw for a 63-62 lead with 2:04 left. But that would be the team’s last basket. A couple missed threes, two shots inside that rolled off the rim and a turnover on a crosscourt pass attempt was how this one ended. It was one of several long passes picked off by the Lancers.
“We should have shortened up those passes,” Geier said. “We always preach that you not only have to see the offense, you have to see the defense. When they’re in the passing lane ready to jump it, you have to see that. But Manty Lutheran took the game tonight, and unfortunately, we have to suck it up. It’s really hard for some of these kids, but they should be proud. They fought back.”
Sevastopol wins, loses
Packerland runner-up Sevastopol beat Oneida Nation 45-28 in a sectional semifinal Thursday before losing to the state’s top-ranked Div. 5 team, Assumption, 61-42 Saturday. The Pioneers finished 23-5.
Assumption (27-1) played Owen-Withee (25-4) in Friday’s state semifinal. Game two saw Lourdes Academy (24-5) vs. Barneveld (21-7).
Check out the entire WIAA state girls basketball schedule online at https://www.wiaawi.org/Sports/Winter/Girls-Basketball/Tournament.
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