Tigerton girls basketball team trounces Bowler behind pressure defense

The Tigerton High School girls basketball decided to try and put pressure on a young and inexperienced Bowler team with some full-court press. It worked to the Tigers’ advantage and helped the team cruise to a 68-21 Central Wisconsin Conference-North Division victory on Jan. 14 in Tigerton.

Off made baskets or after dead ball situations, Tigerton put on a full-court press that led to several Bowler turnovers and easy buckets on the offensive end for the hosts.

“We normally don’t press very much, but we thought it’d be a good time to practice it and kind of like perfect it. It went well in our favor. It worked really well, and it made us gain more confidence,” said Tigerton’s Adrienne Brady, who scored a team-leading 23 points.

“We just kind of wanted to work on (the press). We haven’t been able to really take control of a game; we’ve been in a drought lately. We just wanted to work on that today. It was the first time we’ve used it in probably a couple weeks now,” said Savannah Swartz, who had 17 points and nine rebounds for the Tigers.

It was Bowler that scored the game’s first six points before Tigerton found its groove. The Tigers went on an 11-0 run, scoring many of those points off Panther turnovers. Brady hit two 3-pointers and tallied eight points on the run.

Tigerton continued its surge and soon had a 10-point lead. Bowler’s Abigayl Chamberlain knocked down a shot to bring Bowler back within eight, 20-12, but it turned out to be the Panthers’ final points of the opening half.

In the closing five minutes, Tigerton went on a 16-0 run. The Tigers kept things rolling in the second half, scoring the first 15 points to cap a 31-0 run.

Soon after, the Tigers were able to go up 40 points to start the running clock and eased to victory from there.

“We rarely get the chance to be ahead or in the lead and now that we were able to do that, we were very excited and pumped up. We just wanted to keep going and we never slowed down or stopped,” said Brady, who hit five 3-pointers in the contest.

Bethany Jobe pulled down eight rebounds, and Ladia Block dished out eight assists for the Tigers.

Despite the big deficit on the scoreboard, Bowler also continued to battle until the final whistle.

“I tell the girls, ‘Don’t even mind the scoreboard; we’re here to have fun and just keep trying.’ Only because we have to get better. It doesn’t matter about the scoreboard at all,” said Bowler’s lone senior Tynea Johnson.

Brandi Spencer knocked down three shots and two free throws to lead Bowler with eight points.

Bowler 12 9 — 21

Tigerton 36 32 — 68

Tigerton (68): Ladia Block 2-2 7, Elizabeth Stueck 0-0 2, Adrienne Brady 0-0 23, Elizabeth Robbins 2-2 8, Savannah Swartz 1-6 17, Taryn Graham 0-0 6, Bethany Jobe 1-2 5.

Bowler (21): Abigayl Chamberlain 0-0 4, Tynea Johnson 0-2 3, Brandi Spencer 2-2 8, Shianne Pyke 0-0 2, Jasmine Welch 2-2 2, Julia Hahn 0-3 2.

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