The Gillett Secondary School lost to Bonduel in three straight games, and the Bonduel crowd helped the home team win the dash for cash, but more than $1,000 was raised at the “Dig for a Cure” match Thursday at Bonduel High School.
The annual match, which alternates between the two schools, raises funds for local families fighting cancer.
“This is the first time I’ve been this far involved,” Gillett coach Keri Hicks said. “I’ve had daughters go through the program in the last few years. It is a very nice tradition.”
“The two communities and the school just work so well together,” Bonduel coach Kim Bodoh said. “They’re just a fun, easy staff to work with. It makes it a fun event.”
In the dash for cash, Bonduel raised $270 and Gillett $133.32. Money also was raised through T-shirt sales and raffles.
On the court, with the players of both sides clad in pink, the competition was close, aside from the second game, which Bonduel wasted no time in winning 25-9.
“I’m happy with it,” Bodoh said. “We tried out some new stuff on offense. We tried to run some different plays on our offense that we’ve been practicing but we haven’t tried in conference yet. It was exciting to try some of those plays, even though some of them didn’t go well.”
Bonduel maintained a narrow lead for much of the first game, before Gillett rallied to tie it at 21-21. The Bears pushed ahead of Gillett 23-21, but the teams tied again at 24-24 before Bonduel scored the last two points.
The third game looked early like a repeat of the second. Bonduel took a 10-4 lead and was up 18-9 before Gillett rallied to within 20-17 with junior Jessica Anderson serving.
Bonduel was able to hold off the Gillett rally, though, to win the game 25-21.
“With their big hitters, I was ecstatic with how they played that first game and even the tail end of this third game,” Hicks said. “Jessica Anderson served great, which was a huge thing in both games.”
Anderson would finish with six service aces, along with two kills, 13 assists and three digs.
“We struggled with one of their servers,” Bodoh said. “I think when things are going well offensively, (Bonduel players) forget about the defensive side of the game.”
Seniors Jen Dowden and Lexi Reinke did most of the damage against Gillett. Dowden finished with nine kills, 11 digs and five blocks in the middle. Outside, Reinke had seven kills and eight digs. Miranda Schmidt had 10 assists.
For Gillett, senior Taylor Kohls led with seven kills and one block. Erin Balthazor had four kills and 10 digs. Victoria Loberger had eight digs, four kills and one block.
“Kohls made some good decisions here tonight,” Hicks said. “She had a couple of attacks that were long, but when you’re going to swing at it, that’s going to happen.”
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