Loyal girls cruise to win against Rosholt Hornets

By Valorie Brecht

Above left, Summer Smith puts in a layup ahead of her defenders after racing down the court on a fast break. Above right, Addysen Wolf does the same thing. Below, Autumn Zvolena reaches high as she shoots a layup for the Hounds, which she made.

While on Christmas break, the Loyal Greyhound girls basketball team faced the Rosholt Hornets in a non-conference matchup at home. Loyal won handily, scoring more than double the points Rosholt did, but Rosholt still offered enough competition to give Loyal the chance to hone in on skills not fully developed in previous games.

Rosholt scored first in the early afternoon game, with a basket by Sarah Trzinski. However, not too long after that, Summer Smith hit a 3 to give the Greyhounds the lead, one they would hang on to for the entire game. However, the Hornets kept it close for several minutes, only trailing by 3 halfway into the first half. Loyal coach Mike Rueth said his team was slow coming off of Christmas break.

“We had a couple of notthe- best practices leading into the game. So it took a little while. Not saying it’s like the first game of the year, but (it almost is)… Because everyone goes home and enjoys Christmas with their families, and now they have to come back and play some basketball. So it just takes a little bit to get back into it,” he said.

The Greyhounds stared to break the lead open with a 3-pointer from Addysen Wolf at 8:47 left in the half, making it 13-6. Scoring continued with 2 points from Autumn Zvolena, 2 from Wolf and then another 2 from Zvolena. After that, the Greyhounds went through a bit of a dry spell due to some poor shooting, but the Hornets struggled to make a basket too.

With 2:25 remaining, Mallory Jakobi scored a basket off an offensive rebound to get things going again. Zvolena then made another basket off an assist from Sheila Tellock, one of four from Tellock assists that game, and Tellock got a 3-pointer of her own to round out the half, the Greyhounds leading 26-12.

Tellock’s athletic ability didn’t just show up on the offensive end of the court, though.

“I was really impressed with Sheila Tellock tonight defensively… Her defense doesn’t go unnoticed by the coaches. I told her tonight at the half that her defensive performance was outstanding. Her energy on their best player was really good,” said Rueth.

In the second half, Loyal scored even more points than in the first. Zvolena got hot and put in three buckets all within a minute. After that, there was a lull in the action until five minutes had gone by, at which point Jakobi made a jump shot. Just 30 seconds later, Jakobi put in another, this time off an assist from Summer Smith. She made one more basket before time was up, scoring 10 points in all, her most for the season (of the games recorded at WisSports.net). Rueth said Jakobi had gained assertiveness and understanding throughout the season.

“Mallory’s improved as the year’s went on. She has a lot of things to work on yet; she’s just a freshman. But she has a great mid-range jump shot, and she did that tonight, and she had a nice post game tonight where she went right after their best player and scored. So that was really positive and I’m really happy with how she played. She’s starting to understand the defensive side of it more every game, so she’s going to be more of a complete player for us,” he said.

At 11:44 remaining, Zvolena made another hoop, after grabbing her own rebound and tossing it up again. Other scorers over the next eight minutes included Tellock, Olivia Nikolai, Jakobi and Smith. For the last roughly three minutes of the game, Rueth put in some of his typical JV players, with Annika Schley and Andrya Wilke both scoring baskets. Loyal scored 31 points in the second half to earn the 57-24 win. Zvolena was the Greyhounds’ leading scorer, with 18 points, all of them coming from 2-point field goals. She also had 12 rebounds, with five on offense. “Autumn was very aggressive offensively,” said Rueth. “She stayed balanced; she got some offensive rebounds. She finished around the basket. So, I’m proud of her. That’s what we need out of her every game, is that kind of performance, because she definitely gives us a post presence. She’s our best post presence right now.” Other scorers for Loyal were Tellock with 10 points, Jakobi with 10, Wolf with 7, Nikolai with 6, and Smith, Wilke and Schley all with 2. Only two Loyal players went to the line to shoot free throws, and only Nikolai made free throws, sinking three out of four.

The Rosholt victory continued the Greyhounds’ winning ways after defeating Gilman six days earlier, and put them at 7-3 overall. They will play next at Owen-Withee on Thursday, Jan. 4.

VALORIE BRECHT/STAFF PHOTO

Eastern Cloverbelt

Girls Basketball Standings

AS OF JAN. _

Neillsville _-_ ColumbusCatholic _-_ Greenwood _-_ Loyal _-_ Owen-Withee _-_ Gilman _-_ Colby _-_ Spencer _-_