Can the Menominee Nation girls basketball team compete in the Central Wisconsin Conference-East without its leading scorer?
The Eagles answered that question Jan. 8 in its first of two matchups this season with Weyauwega-Fremont. Menominee Nation led for most of the game before dropping a 47-41 decision on the Warhawks’ home court.
The game was the Eagles’ first without Urijah Reevis, who injured her ankle in practice recently and is out indefinitely.
The loss ended a four-game winning streak for the Eagles that included wins over Crandon and Wabeno/Laona at a holiday tournament in Edgar.
The Eagles led by as many as 10 points in the first half in Weyauwega and took a 21-12 lead into the locker room at the break.
Cecelia Grignon opened the second half with a basket that gave the Eagles their biggest lead, but the Warhawks slowly chipped away at the deficit and took their first lead – 35-34 – on Chamille Birdyshaw’s steal and basket with just under seven minutes remaining in the game. The Eagles quickly regained the lead on a basket from Natalie Peters, but Weyauwega-Fremont took its second lead on another Birdyshaw basket with 4 1/2 minutes left and never trailed again.
“The biggest thing is we were missing our leading scorer tonight, and that showed at the end of the game,” coach Warren Wilber III said. “We were missing 18 points a night out there tonight.”
He said he’s not sure when Reevis will return to the lineup.
“We don’t know yet,” he said. “She sprained her ankle in practice the other day. We’re hoping next week, but it’s going to take some time. It’s pretty bruised up and swollen. It’s not healing as quick as we thought it would.”
Reevis wasn’t the only player that didn’t suit up for the Eagles.
“We also had another starter out tonight, and our sixth girl off the bench was out, too,” Wilber said. “We have a couple of girls coming back hopefully tomorrow or early next week.”
He said he is happy with his team’s effort in the first half that included 12 points from Aaliyah Corn.
“My locker room talk was I’m proud of what we did tonight, because we came in shorthanded and gave them a run for their money,” he said. “We gave as much as they could handle.”
Corn led the Eagles with 17 points, while Birdyshaw led all players with 22.
The Eagles fell to 2-3 in CWC-East play. Menominee Nation has wins over Amherst and Shiocton but fell to Wittenberg-Birnamwood and Bonduel, two teams ahead of the Eagles in the conference standings.
“We think the conference (games) are going well,” Wilber said. “We love the competitiveness of our conference. We see each other twice a year, and we know each other. We live for these conference games. They’re a lot more fun.”
The game in Weyauwega started a busy week for the Eagles that also included nonconference road games Jan. 9 at Southern Door and Jan. 12 at Port Edwards, as well as a CWC-East game Jan. 13 in Manawa.
Wilber is in his fourth season as the team’s coach.
“I have five seniors this year, and had all five of them when they were freshmen,” he said. “I told them, ‘This is what we’re going to do, this is how we’re going to do it, this is how the next four years are going to look for you.’ They bought in immediately, and we’ve been trying to improve every single year. I think we’ve done that, and they’re a big part of that.”
