Oconto Falls girls basketball team's rally falls short

Panthers show fight after being down double digits
By: 
Morgan Rode
Sports Editor

The Oconto Falls High School girls basketball team showed fight and resiliency while trying to rally past New Holstein in a nonconference matchup on Dec. 30 in Oconto Falls. Despite their efforts, the Panthers came up on the wrong end of a 57-46 final.

“It’s been kind of frustrating for us,” said first-year Oconto Falls coach Tim Solarek. “We seem to miss a lot of layups. That’s kind of been our M.O. the last few games. We work on them every day in practice, so I guess we just have to keep working on them.”

Oconto Falls trailed for most of the contest and was down 27-14 early in the second half after a pair of New Holstein baskets.

Over the next several minutes, the Panthers clawed their way back into the contest, scoring nine straight points to make it a four-point game. Had the hosts knocked down their four free throws over that stretch, they would have taken the lead.

The teams traded baskets over the next few minutes before a pair of free throws from Hailey Peitersen, a bucket by Alexis Euclide and another free throw by McKayla Goebel brought the Panthers within two, 32-30.

New Holstein responded with the next three points before Euclide knocked down two free throws. The visitors then scored four straight before free throws by Jaden Reed and a basket from Goebel brought the Panthers within three, 39-36.

This time, the visitors scored six straight points to bump their lead up to nine, but Oconto Falls wasn’t done fighting just yet, as Goebel hit a 3-pointer.

“Usually, we really don’t start off very strong,” said Goebel. “Being down by that much is really frustrating so we just of just push ourselves to keep going and I feel like we’re pretty good at that, but we just have to keep pushing harder in order to stick with it.”

Solarek appreciated his team’s effort, especially trying to make a comeback in the second half, but also believes exerting so much energy to get within a couple points maybe led to some tired legs down the stretch.

New Holstein pushed the lead back to 10 before and then traded points with the Panthers. Euclide made a pair of shots — one bringing the hosts within eight and the other within seven — and then Peitersen connected on a a triple to make it 51-46 with just over a minute to play.

New Holstein was finally able to deliver the dagger, knocking down a 3-pointer of its own with a minute left before adding another free throw and bucket in the waning seconds.

“Really as a team, we work well together to try and build each other up all the time,” said Peitersen on the team’s ability to keep battling. “We’re always working to try and build each other up even if we’re kind of behind by a lot. So that helps us to fight back and once we get that momentum it really helps us.”

Peitersen finished with a team-leading 16 points for Oconto Falls. Euclide and Goebel each added 14 points. Reed was the only other Panther to record a point.

New Holstein 23 34 —57

Oconto Falls 14 32 —46

New Holstein (57): Brianna Guelig 3-5 3, Cameron Guelig 0-0 3, Alyssa Woelfel 1-4 5, Lauren Danes 1-4 17, Grace Schisel 6-7 15, Jessica Diedrich 4-5 10, Karly Schmitz 0-1 4.

Oconto Falls (46): Alexis Euclide 2-2 14, McKayla Goebel 1-2 14, Hailey Peitersen 2-4 16, Jaden Reed 2-2 2, Amelia Rice 0-2 0, Brenna Morrissey 0-2 0.

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