Lavicka hits game-winning shot

Athens beats Marathon at the buzzer

By Casey Krautkramer

The bank was open in Athens on Monday night for sophomore guard Addison Lavicka, who cashed in on a three pointer at the buzzer for a thrilling one-point win against Marathon in a Marawood Conference crossover game.

Down by two points, Athens had the ball with only seven seconds left to play against Marathon. Bluejays head coach Kyncaide Diedrich called a timeout to calm her young team down and set up an inbounds play for the game-winning shot.

“I tried to just lay it all out there that we needed to score and stay composed through it all,” Diedrich said. “The girls did just that and we got a nice look for the win.”

Lavicka caught the inbounds pass and after passing the ball away, she eventually got the ball back from fellow sophomore Jazelle Hartwig. Lavicka launched a three pointer from the top of the key that went straight off the backboard and in for the 38-37 game winner.

Athens trailed Marathon, 18-14, at halftime.

“The comeback win wasn’t easy, that’s for sure,” coach Diedrich said. “We had three starters out with four fouls in the second half, so being able to come back against a team like Marathon is an amazing accomplishment, let alone doing it with our bench.

“Sydney Coker and Alonna Haines stepped up to the challenge for our other bigs who were on the bench with fouls; they did an incredible job out there by stepping up when we needed them too. Jazelle Hartwig also was huge for us on the offensive end. Marathon took our bigs out of the game by clogging up the lane, so our guards had to do the scoring. Jazelle was aggressive on offense and she helped lead us to the comeback in the second half; her 17 points were definitely earned.”

Lavicka contributed 10 points besides scoring the game-winning basket. Senior McKennzie Schug led Athens with 10 rebounds, while Hartwig and Sophia Coker added seven rebounds apiece. Lavicka paced the Bluejays with four assists and two blocks.

Senior Allison Wokatsch led Marathon with 15 points, while fellow seniors Jenna Aschbrenner contributed eight points and Jada Prihoda had seven points. Jada Prihoda paced the Red Raiders with 10 rebounds while junior Ashley Phakitthong added eight. Phakitthong led the team with five assists and three steals.

Athens improves to 8-2 in the Marawood North Conference and 14-2 overall this season, while Marathon falls to 6-4 in the Marawood South Conference and 8-7 overall.

Coach Diedrich outlined how her Athens squad was able to come back and beat Marathon to remain two games behind first-place Phillips in the Marawood North Conference standings.

“Overall, I give credit to our defense the whole game; holding Marathon to 37 points is something to be proud of,” Diedrich said. “Our shots weren’t falling, but we preach that defense is a constant; if we can get more stops, that gives us more chances to put the ball in the hole and them less. Our energy on the bench was also awesome! During every timeout, our bench was excited and they gave positive energy to the girls on the court. Without that positive energy, we may have not won the mental battle at the end, so our bench energy played a huge role in the comeback win as well.”

Saturday action

Marathon pounded Chequamegon, 72-23, at home on Saturday. Wokatsch and Kali Prihoda led the Red Raiders with 13 points each. Chloe LaValley added 10 points. Senior Laci Hoeksema paced the team with seven rebounds and Kali Prihoda with six steals.

Tigers fall to Loggers

Stratford’s girls basketball team lost, 70-47, on the road to Phillips on Friday. Freshman Kayln Schueller led the Tigers with 11 points, followed by junior Tessa Berg with eight. Junior Mercedes Kramer had the team’s only blocked shot.

Junior Lauren Kraus paced Stratford with seven rebounds and four steals. Junior Allison Lindner led the Tigers with three assists in the defeat.