Sometimes it’s not a case of whether a good thing comes to an end, but rather when that end comes.
The Bonduel High School girls basketball team got its first taste of defeat this season Thursday night when the Bears let one slip away against Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 35-34, in Wittenberg.
The Chargers’ Siri Zeinert was left open under the bucket on a defensive rotation with :02 left and dropped in the layup that gave Wittenberg-Birnamwood its only lead of the night, and the win.
With the loss, Bonduel, which led 20-8 at halftime and 27-18 after three, fell to 19-1 on the year and 12-1 in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8.
“Was going undefeated one of our goals this year? Absolutely not,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “It was a tough loss, but a good learning experience. Our problem tonight was turnovers.”
The Bears committed an uncharacteristic 21 turnovers in falling to the Chargers (18-2, 11-2).
“It wasn’t always Wittenberg-Birnamwood causing our turnovers,” Dowden said. “We tried to make the awesome play, the great pass into a small area, when we should’ve been making smart passes.”
Micah Nier had a 16 points for Wittenberg-Birnamwood, whose pressure defense saddled the Bears with foul trouble and fueled the second-half comeback.
Jen Dowden scored nine points and broke the Bonduel girls career scoring record. Kailee Pedersen had eight points and three steals. Taylor Weier grabbed nine rebounds.
Bonduel is banking on the defeat having a bracing effect. As its coach pointed out, the only thing worse than a late-season, streak-ending loss is a postseason, season-ending loss.
“It’s better that this happened now rather than two weeks from now,” Missy Dowden said. “We’ll talk about it and get it worked out.”
Bonduel (34)
Collier 0 1-2 1, H. Sorenson 0 1-2 1, E. Sorenson 1 0-0 2, Dowden 4 1-2 9, Reinke 2 0-0 5, Weier 2 1-2 5, Pedersen 3 2-2 8, Zernicke 1 0-0 3.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood (35)
Clark 1 0-0 3, Zeinert 2 2-4 6, Alwes 1 0-0 2, Nier 5 5-5 16, White Eagle 3 0-0 7, Konkol 0 1-4 1.
Bonduel 11 9 7 7 — 34
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 2 6 10 17 — 35
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