Curtain closes on Wildcats’ season

Comeback bid falls shorts for the Edgar girls

Give up, or keep fighting. Those were the two options the Edgar Wildcats contemplated during its WIAA D-4 sectional semifinal on Thursday.

It was the postseason. A win would bring Edgar one step closer to the state tournament.

The only problem is Edgar had just played its worst half of the season, and at the worst possible time, and the ‘Cats were staring at a 25-7 deficit.

With this year’s motto ‘unfinished business’ ringing in their ears, Makenna Guden rallied her team in the locker room, reminding “When we went into the locker room we were just really sure we wanted to come back and fight for the win. We didn’t want to give up.” Skylee Manecke

them why they were here, and who they are.

Edgar junior They were regional champions, having ousted Marathon the week before. They were the team that had overcome injuries, departures and COVID-19 to be one of the last teams standing in D-4.

“Our talk in the locker room was ‘Hey, they did it to us in the first half so now it’s our turn. It’s the second half, let’s treat it like a 0-0 ball game,’” Guden said about that locker room speech. “I told the girls that we had two options - we can roll over and lose by 50, or we can get back in this thing.”

The Wildcats were staring down a double-digit hole after the Crickets ran roughshod over Edgar’s state tournament hopes. It’s not that Fall Creek was that good, it’s just that Edgar struggled so mightily in the first half.

Shots that should have fallen rattled in and out, and Edgar struggled to keep Fall Creek’s 6’0” center Gianna Vollrath off the glass. Edgar began the game down 10-3, and before long found themselves down 15-5 with 8:26 to play.

“It was huge,” Edgar head coach Thomas McCarty said about the missed lay-ups. “When shots don’t go in, it’s tougher to stay disciplined on defense. A couple of defensive lapses let them go up a little bigger, but even with the missed shots, it should have been closer. We just failed to do the little things defensively.”

By the time the first 18 minutes had ticked off the clock Edgar had managed just a meager seven points on three made field goals, with all their offense coming from one source, Mckenna Guden.

The Crickets were far more balanced, with Tori Martin scoring nine points and Mackensy Kolpien contributing 10. Edgar held Vollrath in check with just four points. As Edgar trudged into the locker room each Wildcat knew the only sure thing was another 18 minutes.

They also knew giving up was not an option. There was only one clear choice.

“When we went into the locker room we were just really sure we wanted to come back and fight for the win,” junior guard Skylee Manecke said. “We didn’t want to give up because we knew we had it in us to get back into the game.”

The Wildcats roared to life in the second half, unleashing a potent offense upon the Crickets that had Fall Creek confused and shell-shocked.

Edgar nearly doubled their first half output in the first two minutes, and pulled back to within ten points on a 14-6 run that made it 31-21 with 12:47 to go. Guden hit big shots, and Edgar’s full court press created turnovers that Edgar used to cut into Fall Creek’s lead.

“That pressure drives our offense, and it created some opportunities for us,” coach McCarty said. “That’s all we wanted to do in the second half, just kick it up a bit.”

Edgar did more than just ‘kick it up a bit’ - they kicked the darn door right off its hinges. Through the first twelve minutes of the final frame the Wildcats scored 18 of the second half’s 28 points.

All it took to key that run, said Manecke, was getting back to their pattern of play. “We were trying to play their game, when we should be playing ours. I think that’s what hurt us the most in the first half. In the second half we got back to our game.”

As if by magic, Edgar was suddenly only down seven, with Fall Creek clinging to a 35-28 lead. The second half blitz from Edgar prompted Fall Creek to call a time-out, and when the Crickets returned to the court their game plan was brutally simple, but very effective.

Fall Creek began to swing the ball around, taking air out of the game, and burning time off the clock. The Wildcats were forced to foul, but could not get their offensive mojo back.

The Crickets took advantage, and Fall Creek’s Emily Madden drilled a backbreaker three pointer with 5:50 left in the game that made it a double-digit lead again. From there, it was all Fall Creek, with the Crickets scoring the final ten points of the game for a 45-28 victory.

Gudenledallplayerswith19points,but Edgar’s all-time leading scorer was the only ‘Cat in double digits. Malia Hoesly had four, Makayla Wirkus scored three points and Skylee Manecke chipped in with two points.

While Fall Creek celebrated moving on, the Wildcats were left to think what might have been. It was up to McCarty to try and put the season into perspective.

“It was a great season for the kids, all things considered. They get a new coach, one of their seniors moves out of state, one of their juniors is hurt until January, and a couple kids move districts.

“So it was a whole new team, and for them to learn everything and from where we started on Day One to today, I could not be more proud.”

Amidst the tears and the hugs between players and their teammates and families, was that sense of pride. No matter what happens, this team’s legacy is set in stone. Each time they step into Edgar High’s halls, their regional plaque will greet them - and will greet future Wildcats.

“It means a lot,” Guden said about Edgar’s title. “I’ve played for this team for four years, and obviously it’s hard leaving, but it’s been a joy. It really has.

“We came into this season with a lot of younger girls that had never played varsity before. Just getting to this game, and finding that team chemistry, learning how to work together, that was our goal.”

PRESENCE IN THE PAINT- Edgar’s Reagan Borchardt (#3) attempts to post up on a Fall Creek Cricket in the Wildcats sectional semifinal last Thursday. Spurred on by this year’s motto of “unfinished business” Edgar nearly pulled off the upset on Feb. 19, cutting a 19-point deficit to just seven points.STAFF PHOTO/ROSS PATTERMANN