This story is sponsored by: Valley Communities Credit Union
By Paul Lecker
MarshfeildAreaSports.com
SPENCER – Neillsville overwhelmed Spencer with a relentless defensive attack and a 3-point shooting barrage to beat the Rockets 44-10 in the Cloverbelt Conference East Division girls basketball opener for both teams on Thursday at Spencer High School.
The Warriors forced 23 turnovers and made 9 of 26 shots from 3-point range in the victory. Neillsville, playing its first game of the season, held Spencer to only 5 of 24 shooting.
“They were hot and we were flat on defense, flat on offense, we didn’t play as a team it didn’t seem like,” Spencer coach Dan Brodziski said. “I was totally shocked the way we came out and played. They outplayed us in every facet of the game possible and we have nobody to blame but ourselves.”
Neillsville jumped out to an 11-0 lead behind two 3-pointers by freshman Jenny Lindner and another by McKenzie Trunkel.
Kyleigh Hebert ended Spencer’s scoreless drought at the 3:25 mark of the quarter, but the Rockets’ problems were just beginning.
Trunkel hit another 3-pointer and Lindner added a basket at the beginning of the second quarter to build an 18-4 lead. The Warriors eventually built a 26-6 lead by halftime when Alyssa Anding hit a 3-pointer at the second-quarter buzzer.
“Defensively, we did a nice job of getting back and we made enough shots that we could put some pressure on and that helped us a little bit,” Neillsville coach John Gaier said. “I was real proud of our young kids and the way they stepped up. I was very pleased to have our kids come in here and play well.”
A 12-0 run that bridged the final 5:50 of the third quarter and first 4 minutes of the fourth pushed Neillsville’s lead to 40-8. Trunkel finished with 15 points on five 3-pointers and Lindner added 12 points for the Warriors.
Spencer (1-1) has seven days to prepare for its next game Dec. 10 against Loyal and Thursday’s game shows the Rockets there is plenty to improve on.
“Everything they did to us, there’s always a fix to what they did,” Brodziski said. “We hope they can come back tomorrow at practice and start at it all over again because we definitely aren’t where we thought we were.”
Warriors 44, Rockets 10
Neillsville 16 20 11 7 – 44
Spencer 4 2 2 2 – 10
NEILLSVILLE (44): Alyssa Anding 1-2 0-0 3, Stephanie O’Leary 0-5 0-0 0, Sam Pfeiffer 1-5 3-4 5, Jenny Lindner 5-12 0-0 12, McKenzie Trunkel 5-11 0-0 15, Caitlynne Naughton 2-8 5, Lindsey Opelt 0-2 0-0 0, Kelsey Poeschel 1-2 0-0 2, Kendra Pfeiffer 0-1 0-0 0, Corina Craig 0-1 0-0 0. FG: 15-49. FT: 5-6. 3-pointers: 9-26 (Trunkel 5-10, Lindner 2-4, Naughton 1-5, Anding 1-2, O’Leary 0-5). Rebounds: 16 (Craig 4). Turnovers: 11. Total fouls: 9. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-0 overall and Cloverbelt East.
SPENCER (10): Danica Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Krystal Weier 0-6 0-0 0, Alicia Endreas 0-0 0-0 0, Claire Drews 0-0 0-0 0, Kailyn Anderosn 0-0 0-0 0, Courtney Schulz 0-0 0-0 0, Tara Matter 1-5 0-0 2, Aubrie Bissonette 2-7 0-0 4, Kyleigh Hebert 2-6 0-0 4, Tynae Phillips 0-0 0-0 0. FG: 5-24. FT: 0-2. 3-pointers: 0-2 (Weier 0-1, Hebert 0-1). Rebounds: 17 (Matter 5). Total fouls: 10. Fouled out: none. Record: 1-1, 0-1 Cloverbelt East.