Greenwood girls hold off Columbus Dons in close game

The Greenwood girls met their match when facing down Columbus Catholic at home Jan. 4. A close game, the win by Greenwood secured the team’s second-place ranking in the Cloverbelt Conference over the Dons, who are now ranked third as the season begins its final stretch before the playoffs.

The game opened with both teams scoring 3-pointers on their first successful shots, the points scored by the Indians coming from Avry Wuethrich. Scoring was low in the minutes that followed, with the only points coming from a 1-for-2 free throw shot by Bria Thomas at the 14:33 mark to put Greenwood up 4-3.

The Dons then went on a short run which quickly gave them double Greenwood’s score. With the score 8-4, the Indians called a timeout and came back fighting, overtaking the Dons with three successive baskets to take a 10-8 lead. Another 3-pointer by Columbus gave the lead back to the Dons, but Lainy Trampush responded with a 3-pointer for Greenwood. A foul called on Greenwood at the 6:08 mark allowed the Dons to go 2-for-2 and tie the game up at 13.

For the next few minutes, the teams were neck-and-neck, as both teams scored points to keep pace with each other. But with a foul called on Greenwood in the last minute of the first half, the Dons were able to edge out a 1-point lead at halftime, 21-20.

The Indians came back from halftime with the drive to win, getting their first points in the second half from Tysen Lindner going 2-for-2 at the line and a 3-pointer by Addison Davidson. In the next several minutes, Greenwood outscored the Dons enough to build a 10-point lead with 8:32 left to play.

With the score set 33-23, the Indians hit a rough patch as Columbus tried to claw away at Greenwood’s lead, drawing their score up to 29 points without a response from Greenwood’s offense. Greenwood’s saving grace came in the last minutes of play, when numerous fouls were called on the Dons, allowing Greenwood to score. Wuethrich went 2-for-2 on her free throw shots and Taytm Travis went 1-for-2 to end the game with a 36-29 victory for Greenwood.

Lindner led the Indians in scoring, going 4-for-4 on free throws and scoring 10 points for the team. Travis added 8 points and was 6-for-8 on free throws. Davidson contributed 7 points, including two 3-pointers.

The Dons had similar stats. Sam Casperson was their top scorer with 10 points, including two 3-pointers. Courtney Sommer scored 8 points and Maggie Callaghan added five points.

With the win, the Indians have a 5-1 conference record, which places them in second behind Neillsville which is still undefeated (6-0).

Reporter Cheyenne Thomas contributed to this article.

CHEYENNE THOMAS/STAFF PHOTOS