Eagles seal the deal from free-throw line

Find a way to get it done.

That’s the message Warren Wilber III had for the Menominee Nation girls basketball team as the coach gathered his squad for a timeout during a Central Wisconsin Conference-East matchup with Iola-Scandinavia.

The Eagles were trailing the host Thunderbirds by three points with fewer than three minutes to go Feb. 6 and their top player – Urijah Reevis – had just left the game with an ankle injury.

Apparently, the Eagles got Wilber’s message, as they outscored the Thunderbirds 10-2 down the stretch and returned home with a 51-46 win.

Not only did the Eagles improve to 14-6 on the season, they also got above the .500 mark in conference play and picked up a win after playing from behind for much of the game.

“We haven’t been in this position a lot,” Wilber said. “I told them in the last timeout, ‘Hey, we’ve got to find a way to win tonight.’ We did it.”

The game included 13 lead changes, and neither team led by more than five points.

Eight of the lead changes happened in the first half, and the teams headed to the locker room at halftime tied at 25-25.

Iola-Scandinavia took its biggest lead of the game – 33-28 – early in the second half, but the Eagles scored the next seven points to go back up by two points.

The Thunderbirds regained the lead, led 44-41 with 3:36 left in the game and had momentum on their side after Reevis left the game and didn’t return.

Free throws down the stretch turned out to be the difference in the game, as Natalie Peters, Aaliyah Corn and Keira Nacotee each hit a pair of them that helped turn a three-point deficit into a five-point win.

Corn led all players with 16 points, while Reevis scored 10 of her 12 points in the first half. Brylee Jueds led the Thunderbirds with 12 points.

Wilber said his team’s success started last summer with summer league games and the weight room.

“For the first time, we had a summer where we lifted (weights),” he said. “We’ve never had a full summer of lifting and having multiple girls there and really committed. That’s the difference, and it transferred right into the season. This is my fourth year (of coaching) and I’ve been chasing them around for three summers to get in the weight room. We finally did it and it showed this year. We’ve been physically imposing against a lot of teams.”

As long as the Eagles keep winning, their chances of getting a home game for the upcoming WIAA state tournament also increase.

“We’re just trying to sharpen our tools,” Wilber said. “We have the tools to win a lot of games. We’re trying to get sharper night in and night out. We have nights like tonight where we’re not quite as sharp. On those nights, we find a way to win, and that’s what we did tonight.”