This story is sponsored by: Chips Hamburgers of Marshfield and Wisconsin Rapids
By Paul Lecker
MarshfieldAreaSports.com
SPENCER – It took awhile to get going, but the Spencer girls basketball team eventually did and pulled away for a 39-27 win over Rosholt in a WIAA Division 5 regional quarterfinal Monday night at Spencer High School.
The game was moved from Tuesday to Monday due an impending winter storm.
After Rosholt’s Lily Lorbiecki scored in the opening minute, neither team could buy a basket for nearly five minutes before Heavyn Kind tied the game at the 13:08 mark for Spencer.
Two free throws by Amber Becker 20 seconds later put Spencer ahead for good, and Kind converted a rare four-point play.
Rosholt didn’t score again until there was 9:25 left in the half on a Sarah Trzinski 3-pointer.
Spencer eventually pulled out to a 19-5 lead after two more hoops by Kind, who finished with a game-high 24 points, and led 21-8 at halftime.
“Offensively, we weren’t moving, but defensively, that’s what kept us in the game,” Spencer coach Krystal Weier said. “Rosholt, they came to play, and it was our rebounding that got us going.”
The Rockets led by as much as 18 at 28-10 as they started the second half with a 7-2 run capped by a basket from Rebecca Mlsna.
Rosholt responded with a 6-0 run and played fairly even the rest of the way.
A basket by Trzinski cut the Rockets’ led to nine with 52 seconds left but Kind made four of six free throws in the final 50 seconds to finish off the victory.
The No. 5 seed Spencer will play the winner of Tuesday’s game between No. 13 seed Port Edwards and No. 4 Athens, on Friday. Athens defeated Spencer 44-38 back on Nov. 29.
“It’s always fun and these girls deserve it,” Weier said. “We have a great senior group and some bench players that are great too. It always feels good to get a win, although it maybe wasn’t the best game, but it was a win.”
Lorbiecki led Rosholt (7-18) with eight points, and Trzinski and Alexi Lemanczyk each added seven.
Rockets 39, Hornets 27
Rosholt 8 19 – 27
Spencer 21 18 – 39
ROSHOLT (27): Bridget Lemanczyk 0-3 1-2 1, Sarah Trzinski 3-15 0-1 7, Alexi Lemanczyk 2-8 3-7 7, McKenna Wierzba 0-2 0-0 0, Lily Lorbiecki 3-7 0-0 8, Grace Rogalla 0-1 0-0 0, Sydney Trzebiatowski 1-3 0-0 2, Sophia Bablitch 0-3 0-0 0, Hailey Kostuch 0-0 0-0 0, No. 14 (no name provided) 1-1 0-1 2. FG: 10-43. FT: 4-11. 3-pointers: 3-10 (Lorbiecki 2-5, Trzinski 1-4, Bablitch 0-1). Rebounds: 32 (Trzinski 9). Turnovers: 20. Fouls: 21. Fouled out: A. Lemanczyk. Record: 7-18.
SPENCER (39): Madison Knecht 1-4 0-0 3, Heavyn Kind 6-15 11-15 24, Claudia Krause 1-4 2-4 4, Rebecca Mlsna 1-5 1-3 3, Amber Becker 1-6 2-2 4, Emily Wehrman 0-1 0-0 0, Sam Soback 0-4 1-3 1, Jorie Meyer 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 10-40. FT: 17-27. 3-pointers: 2-9 (Knecht 1-4, Kind 1-5). Turnovers: 18. Fouls: 15. Fouled out: none. Record: 18-7.