Marathon girls endure tough stretch
By Casey Krautkramer
Marathon senior guard Addison Molepske is the consummate teammate who is fine coming off the bench to score a basket in the Red Raiders’ 55-8 home win against Athens on Friday. Her devastating knee injury while downhill skiing during her freshman year humbled her.
“It was definitely heartbreaking to sit on the sideline but I learned to be a good teammate to truly be happy for others and their successes,” she said.
Molepske recovered from knee surgery to play a few basketball games at the end of her sophomore season. She’s had a healthy knee for the past two seasons yet she still wears a brace on it for peace of mind.
“I love all my teammates and it feels great to be playing with them again,” she said.
Marathon head coach Jeff Schneider was able to unload his bench against Athens.
“We have a lot of kids who work hard every day and with such as large roster of 15 kids, they all deserve as much playing time so it was nice to get everybody some decent experience,” he said.
The Red Raiders’ defense limited the Bluejays to just four points in each half despite playing without junior starting forward Emma Love for the first time this season. She injured her left wrist in Marathon’s win against Edgar in its previous game, but she’s hoping to get a splint on it so she can return at some point this season.
Senior guard Chenpieng Phakkitthong led Marathon with 12 points while senior guard Kyla Heise added 11 points and sophomore guard Maycie Myszka had eight. Junior guard Katelyn Love paced the Red Raiders with seven steals and se- See GIRLS BASKETBALL / page 16
FULL-COURT PRESSURE DEFENSE - Marathon senior guard Chenpieng Phakitthong defends Athens senior guard Danica Diethelm during the Red Raiders’ 55-8 home win on Friday. Marathon senior guard Cayden Sapinski (10) is pictured in the background.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
ATHENS FORCES A JUMP BALL - Bluejays junior post player Katelyn DenOtter grabs ahold of the basketball that Marathon senior Kyla Heise has in her arms for a jump ball. Athens senior Bailey Hanke is shown behind DenOtter as is Marathon junior Mylee Haehlke (4).
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
SCHNEIDER SEEKS AN OPENING - Red Raiders sophomore guard Mayven Schneider dribbles the basketball while Bluejays junior guard McKenna Lepak defends her.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
Addison Molepske Girls basketball
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nior guard Cayden Sapinski added six. Junior forward Myles Haehlke led Marathon with eight rebounds and senior forward Isabella Vardon added five.
Athens freshman Itzel Espinoza-Quiroz scored half of her team’s eight points against Marathon.
Marathon lost to Wisconsin Rapids Assumption, 75-47, at home on Monday. Assumption, 13-1, is ranked No. 2 in this week’s wissports.net Division 5 coaches poll. Marathon then beat Nekoosa, 65-32, on the road Tuesday. Athens lost to Rib Lake, 75-39, at home on Monday. Individual Athens and Marathon player statistics from these games were not available when the newspaper was printed.
Tigers win two straight
Stratford’s varsity girls basketball team upended Phillips, 60-52, at home on Friday. Sophomore guard Carly Pankratz led the Tigers with 22 points. Junior forward Tria Tubbs paced Stratford with 14 rebounds and four steals while also scoring 16 points. Senior guard Kayla Casperson and junior center Emily Zuelke added nine points apiece. Casperson paced the team with three steals. Casperson and senior guard Laney Pankratz led the Tigers with four assists each.
Stratford beat Adams-Friendship, 6845, at home on Tuesday. Junior forward MyKayla Stueber led the Tigers with 15 points and Tubbs added 14. Stratford improves its overall record to 12-4 this season.
Wildcats down Falcons
Edgar’s varsity girls basketball squad beat Abbotsford, 58-38, on Friday at home. Junior Savannah Koepke led the Wildcats with 15 points and sophomore Natallya Radke added 14. Senior Chloe Mellenberger paced Edgar with five rebounds and senior Addisyn Trawicki led the team with four assists.
The Wildcats lost to the tough Wisconsin Assumption Royals, 65-19, at home on Thursday. Koepke led Edgar with eight points. Freshman Kendyl Apfelbeck paced the Wildcats with five rebounds and she also scored five points.
EVERYONE HAS THEIR PLAYER TO GUARD - Marathon sophomore Maycie Myszka defends Athens sophomore Ellis Baer (10) as she dribbles the ball across midcourt during the Red Raiders’ 55-8 home win on Friday. Other players shown are Marathon junior Mylee Haehlke (4) defending Athens senior Bailey Hanke (2), Marathon senior Danica Paszek (11) defending Athens junior McKenna Lepak (5) and Marathon sophomore Mayven Schneider (32) defending Athens freshman Itzel Espinoza- Quiroz.
STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
