Pirates fall short in final two conference games, get Cadott for crossover game
Game two between the Gilman and Owen-Withee girls basketball team was significantly different from the first, but the end result Tuesday ultimately was the same.
The visiting Pirates kept hanging around and making the Blackhawks sweat, but Owen-Withee’s defense again was too much to overcome in the 39-28 Eastern Cloverbelt Conference finale for 2023-24.
Unlike their 72-40 blowout win in Gilman Dec. 5, the Blackhawks were icecold from the field and weren’t able to get nearly as many transition baskets as the Pirates did a better job of handling Owen-Withee’s traps.
In fact, both teams made life difficult for each other, packing the lane with zone defense. Made shots from the outside were few and far between for either team.
Owen-Withee finished league play at 10-4, good for a second-place tie with Greenwood. Both teams were four games behind 14-0 Neillsville. Gilman (9-14 overall) finished 4-10 and will play in the sixthplace game of the Cloverbelt Conference crossovers tonight, Thursday, at Cadott.
Owen-Withee threatened to run away from Gilman again when it got out to a 10-2 lead, but that’s when the Blackhawks’ offensive troubles kicked in and the Pirates crept back in it. Jaylyn Orth gave Gilman a spark off the bench with several offensive rebounds. Her four points got the Pirates within 10-8. Allison Olynick’s free throws made it 12-10 with 5:34 to go in the half. Danielle Mann’s basket made it 16-12 at the half.
Good ball movement got Reina Arndt an open 3 and she hit it to start the second half for Owen-Withee and Ellie Petersen opened the lead up to 10 at 26-16 when she made all three free throws after being fouled on a 3-point shot. It was 29-19 with 10:15 left when the Blackhawks went on a nearly six-minute scoring drought.
The Pirates, though, didn’t take full advantage, only getting a high-post jumper from Olynick and single free throws from Olynick and Claire Drier to get within 2923 with 6:13 left.
Olynick’s 3 got Gilman within 31-26 at the four-minute mark, but, starting with Geneva Capetillo’s bonus free throws with 3:33 left, the Blackhawks pulled away at the foul line and Gilman only got one more score from Olynick with 1:45 to go.
Olynick led Gilman with nine points. Mann was held well below her average with just seven points. Orth finished with five as did Drier. Aubrey Steinbach hit an outside jumper for the game’s first points and Gilman’s only lead.
Petersen and Arndt led Owen-Withee (16-6) with 11 points apiece, while Kendall Weiler added nine. The Blackhawks will play Saturday in the Cloverbelt’s secondplace crossover against Fall Creek at Osseo-Fairchild.
Gilman drew the ninth seed in its WIAA Division 5 sectional half-bracket and will open the tournament with a rematch at eighth-seeded Lake Holcombe (11-12) in regional play that tips at 7 p.m. In a game that may have determined who got to host the regional opener, Lake Holcombe edged Gilman 55-52 when the teams met on Dec. 11.
The winner likely earns a long trip to top-seeded South Shore (21-2) in the Feb. 23 regional semifinal. The Cardinals host 16th-seeded Bruce (3-18) in their regional opener Tuesday.
Columbus 41, Gilman 32
Seemingly every time Gilman made a key basket in the second half, visiting Columbus Catholic came right back with one Friday and held off the Pirates 41-32 to complete a sweep of season series between the teams.
Like the first matchup, a 45-44 win for the Dons on Jan. 8, this one was tight throughout. Columbus Catholic led almost throughout, with the exceptions being 3-0 on a Kayleigh James 3-pointer and 8-6 following a 3-pointer and a basket by Mann in the first seven minutes.
Columbus led 17-14 at halftime and extended the lead to 21-14 early in the second half when Gilman started chipping away.
Steinbach hit a 3-point shot with 15:23 left. After the Dons’ Mattea Schlafke missed two free throws, the Pirates transitioned from one end of the court to the other with James hitting Orth at midcourt, then Orth found Steinbach all alone for a layup to make it 21-19.
Schlafke answered for the Dons with a steal and score and two free throws moments later. Back came Gilman with a 3-pointer from Claire Drier off a baseline inbound and a baseline jumper from Drier that pulled the Pirates within 25-24 with 12:08 to play.
Columbus Catholic’s Sophia Wilczek quickly shut down that momentum with a 3-pointer. That was followed by an inside score from the game’s leading scorer, Courtney Sommer to make it 30-24.
Mann got Gilman back within one possession, but Schalfke scored twice for a 34-27 Columbus lead. Gilman clawed back within 36-32 with four minutes left, got a stop and then got an open look for James, whose 3-point shot rattled in and out. The Dons got the ball back and Sommer drove by a defender to get to the rim and put her team up 38-32.
After Mann missed a 3, Sommer hit two free throws with 1:51 to go to put the Dons up by three scores and the Pirates, who didn’t make a shot from the field in the last 5:50, were sunk.
Mann scored 13 points to lead Gilman. Nine of those points came in the first half. Olynick, Steinbach and Drier scored five points apiece. James finished with three and Raygen Soper had Gilman’s last point on a free throw.
Sommer scored 15 points for the Dons, who finished 8-6 in the Eastern Cloverbelt and earned a spot in the fourth-place game of the Cloverbelt Crossovers where it will face Osseo-Fairchild. The Dons are 10-13 overall. Schlafke added 13 points.
In the Pee Wee B Division of Medford’s Biscuit Battle, the Medford Bulldogs placed third ahead of fourth-place Oshkosh and behind champion Wausau and runner-up Wisconsin Rapids. Medford’s team members include Izzy Keeling, Emilio Alvarez, Oakley Schwantes, Mariah Alvarez, Kasen Orth, Luke Sherman, Xander Branowitzer, William Dixon, Kinnley Gowey, Taytem Brahmer, Bella Lemke and Gannen Fuchs. The team is coached by Ryan Lemke, Lucas Fuchs and Doug Branowitzer. SUBMITTED PHOTOS
