Colby defeats ‘Hawks, loses to Neillsville
The Colby Hornets girls basketball squad picked up another win this past week, defeating Owen-Withee on the road to split the season series. A loss to an undefeated Neillsville Warriors team followed, putting the team’s record at 4-16.
73-40
The girls traveled to Neillsville to take on the Warriors Tuesday evening. The Hornets seemed to have the fifth-ranked Division 4 in the state team on upset alert, but a 50-point second half pushed Neillsville to a 73-40 victory.
Boasting a 20-0 record and sitting at the top of the Cloverbelt- East standings, the Warriors posed a significant challenge. The last time the two teams collided, Neillsville handed the Hornets a 74-33 loss on Colby’s home court. Facing such a formidable foe on road and hoping to get a win would be a tough ask for any team.
But the Hornets seemed up to the challenge in the early parts of Tuesday night’s matchup. The Hornets managed to hold Neillsville’s high scoring duo of Paris Opelt and Amelia Trunkel to just 15 combined points in the first half. Meanwhile, the Hornets hit seven shots from beyond the arc in the first period, getting 12 first half points from Alexis Vanderhoof and Angelique Hernandez and Kylie Orth providing two three’s each.
After one half of play, Colby found themselves up 2823, putting them in position to potentially deal Neillsville their first loss of the season.
The second period looked very different than the first, however. Opelt and Trunkel came alive for the Warriors, jumpstarting a somewhat stagnant offense and propelling them to an impressive 50-point effort in the second period.
Meanwhile, the Hornets could not replicate their impressive three-point shooting effort in the second half, leaving them to score only 12 points in the final 18 minutes of the game and allowing Neillsville to take the comfortable 73-40 victory.
Vanderhoof and Hernandez led the Hornets with 12 points each, Orth ended the game with six points and Savana Thomsen added four. Also scoring for Colby were Hayden Willner and Olivia Krause, who both ended the game with three points.
36-28
After being dealt an early season loss on their home court by Owen-Withee, Colby had the opportunity to return the favor Monday night when they went on the road to take on the Blackhawks. In a rematch between the two Cloverbelt-East foes, the Hornets came out on top in a low scoring game, defeating Owen-Withee 3628.
Turnovers and tough defense by both teams resulted in very few points being scored early. A total of eight combined points were scored over the game’s first seven minutes and while Owen-Withee held an 8-6 lead at the half’s midway point, Colby stood poised to pull ahead.
Harrison Schmitt hit a three to give the Hornets the lead and while the play did not exactly kickstart Colby’s offense in the moment, it was the start of a big run for the visitors. Over the next seven minutes, the Hornets outscored Owen-Withee 19-0, finally taking advantage of some of the Blackhawks’ turnovers to score some fast break points and finding some offensive efficiency. At one point during the run, the visiting Colby squad scored on five consecutive possessions, quickly building out their lead while Owen-Withee’s offense continued to flounder. By halftime, the Hornets found themselves up 25-12.
After an increase in production later in the first half, scoring was hard to come by for much of the second. Two steals from Hayden Willner turned into transition baskets for the Hornets, but both teams struggled in their half court offenses. Another three from Schmitt gave Colby a 33-14 advantage with just under eight minutes to play.
A late game push from Owen-Withee made the final closer than it felt for much of the game following Colby’s first half run, but the Hornets still comfortably took the 36-28 victory.
Willner led the Hornets with 11 points, Schmitt had nine and Kylie Orth added seven. Dakota Hoeper, Alexis Vanderhoof, Trisha Vanderhoof and Savana Thomsen all had two points and Angelique Hernandez rounded out the scoring with one point.
The Hornets will have their final Cloverbelt game of the season this Friday, Feb. 10 in Spencer. The game is to start at 7:15 p.m.
