Hornets drop pair of Cloverbelt-East contests

By Nathaniel Underwood

The Colby girls basketball club had a pair of tough challenges last week, facing the two top teams in the Cloverbelt-East conference. While the Hornets struggled to find much to work with against conference-leader Neillsville, they rallied against Owen-Withee, nearly dealing their conference foe what would have been just their fourth loss of the season.

Owen-Withee, 48-43

Colby went toe-to-toe with second-place Owen-Withee last Friday evening but could not pull off the upset over their conference foe, falling at home 48-43.

The Hornets battled back from a 14-point second half deficit to challenge Owen-Withee down the stretch, but the Blackhawks mustered just enough offense to hold off the rally. Ten three-point shots from Colby helped them to make it a close game, but a lack of consistency inside the arc, where they shot 20.8 percent, had the Hornets on the wrong side of the final. Owen-Withee also managed to get to the free throw line nearly twice as often as Colby, and while the Blackhawks did not necessarily make the most of their opportunities there, going just 9-for-23 from the charity stripe, the sheer volume of attempts allowed them to take a six-point advantage there.

A free throw from Lucia Perez and a corner three courtesy of Alexis Vanderhoof had the Hornets up 4-0, but Owen-Withee would go on a run that the Hornets could never truly recover from. The Blackhawks outscored Colby 19-3 over the next 13 minutes, with another three from Vanderhoof the only source of points for the home team over that stretch.

A pair of threes from Perez briefly had Hornets back within seven points, the senior capitalizing on back-to-back possessions for Colby. However, Owen-Withee rattled off five more points before the end of the half and the Hornets found themselves in a 25-13 hole. The Hornets finished the half without a two-point field goal, all but one of their 13 points coming from beyond the three-point line.

Another basket for the visitors to start the scoring in the second period increased the Blackhawks’ advantage. Despite Owen-Withee now holding their largest lead of the game, baskets from Lilly Brzezinski, Angelique Hernandez and Vanderhoof on consecutive trips down the court brought the Hornets right back into the contest.

A pair of threes from Alia Hamus continued Colby’s push, bringing her team back within three points. Owen-Withee countered with a three of their own to cool the Hornets’ rally and kept Colby at an arm’s length over the next few minutes. The home team refused to go away, however, and another three from Hernandez once again made it a one-possession game at 40-37.

The Hornets could never fully close that gap in the end, scoring five points over the final five minutes and eventually falling 48-43.

Vanderhoof had a team-high 11 points while collecting five rebounds and two assists. Perez added another 10 points, five rebounds and three assists and Hamus finished with a trio of three-pointers and five rebounds. Hernandez picked up seven points, four rebounds and three assists and Brzezinski and Elizabeth Perez had three points each. Brzezinski led the Hornets with seven rebounds and Perez had a team-high three steals.

Neillsville, 69-17

The Hornets had a tough matchup last Tuesday evening, facing off against the Cloverbelt-East leading Neillsville Warriors on the road. The sixth-ranked squad in Division 4 proved why they are one of the best teams in the state, dealing Colby a 69-17 defeat.

The visiting Colby squad struggled to find any holes in their opponents’defense, shooting 18.9 percent from the field and surrendering 24 turnovers.

After being held scoreless for the first nine minutes of the game, Angelique Hernandez got the Hornets on the board with a three-pointer at the midway point of the first period. Another long offensive drought for Colby put them in a 27-3 hole and while baskets from Lucia and Elizabeth Perez more than doubled the Hornets’ total points in the final three minutes of the period, they still found themselves in a significant deficit.

Lilly Brzezinski was able to answer the Warriors’ first field goal of the second period with one of her own on Colby’s first possession, but points were still difficult to come by. Eight minutes of game time passed before a free throw from Hernandez got the Hornets back on the board, and while the visitors had their best offensive of the game output over the final nine minutes, Neillsville was still able to cruise to a comfortable victory.

Hernandez and Brzezinski co-led the team with four points each, Brynn Polivka had three points and Alexis Vanderhoof and Lucia and Elizabeth Perez all had two points. Hernandez had the most rebounds with five, Brzezinski collected another four and Elizabeth Perez led the team in assists and steals, dishing out two assists and adding three steals.

SETTING UP THE DEFENSE - Lucia Perez guards Owen-Withee’s Madi Mueller as the Hornets try to put pressure on the visitors late in Friday night’s contest. Perez finished with 10 points.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD

DRIVING TO THE HOOP - Alexis Vanderhoof dribbles down the baseline as she tries to get around her defender. Vanderhoof led the team in scoring on Friday night, putting up 11 points.

STAFF PHOTO/NATHANIEL UNDERWOOD