Late charge gives Chi-Hi BRC victory

Last modified: Saturday, December 13, 2008 1:06 AM CST

Late charge gives Chi-Hi BRC victory

By The Chippewa Herald

RICE LAKE — Chippewa Falls’ girls basketball team busted loose for 22 points in the fourth quarter in earning a 54-45 Big Rivers Conference victory against Rice Lake Friday.

The Cardinals remained undefeated for the season behind Lindsay Gaber’s 12 points.

“Gaber came in and did a nice job. (Lori) Kaeding hit . . . back-to-back 3s in the fourth to put us up eight (points),” Chi-Hi coach Jeff Dahl said.

The Cardinals came back from a 27-20 halftime deficit in the third quarter and took the lead with a pair of free throws from Rachel McDonald.

Chi-Hi (3-0, 2-0 BRC) didn’t relinquish the lead from there.

Rice Lake (0-4, 0-2 BRC) was led by Ellen Western with 12 points.

Osseo-Fairchild 55,

McDonell 34

At McDonell, the Macks stuck with undefeated Osseo-Fairchild for three quarters before turnovers reared their ugly head.

That’s when the Chieftains (6-0, 4-0 West Cloverbelt) outscored McDonell, 16-5.

“It comes down to ball handling and fundamentals,” McDonell coach Shannon Tanzer said. “We had a lot of turnovers in the fourth. It broke the game open.”

The Macks (1-4, 1-3 WCC) had 15 steals, but gave the ball away 28 times.

Still, Tanzer said she saw some things she liked, including an improving defense and a balanced attack.

“It shows we work as a team,” she said. “I’d rather have many weapons so teams can’t key on one person.”

Breanna Jenneman, Rachel Deetz and Brittany Ortmann each had six points for the Macks while Osseo-Fairchild’s Katey Wrobel had 15.

Birchwood 64, Cornell 44

At Birchwood, the Chiefs had trouble starting up their shooting and their defense in a East Lakeland road loss to the Bobcats.

“The first quarter, we came out as flat as heck,” Cornell coach Jason Onsager said. “We shouldn’t be giving up 36 points for a whole game, not a half.”

Cornell (0-3, 0-2 ELC), though, did cut the Birchwood (3-2, 2-1 ELC) lead to seven points in the third quarter, but couldn’t get any closer.

The Chiefs got a double-double from Amanda Smith as she had 16 points and 10 rebounds. Cari Arneson led Cornell with 17 points to go with six rebounds. Jenny Toutant had 10 rebounds.

Birchwood was led by Corey Birdsill with 13 points followed by Nicole Breed with 12.

Lake Holcombe 57,

Bruce 39

In Bruce, Joy Webster’s Chieftains put up 20 points in the fourth to Bruce’s nine.

“We just kept running, running, running,” Webster said. “We just wore them down.”

Webster also liked that the Chieftains (5-1, 3-0 East Lakeland Conference) had four in double-digits, including Tiffany Marshall, Brittany Hattamer, Maria Dernovsek and Alyssa Lueck. Marshall led with 14 while 10 boards gave Dernovsek a double-double.

“That’s what I like to see,” Webster said. “It shows we’re going to be a team this year.”

The top scorer for Bruce (1-4, 1-2 ELC) was Lynne Granica on 10 points.

Thursday’s Games

Ladysmith 56, Bloomer 35

In Bloomer, the Lumberjills exploded in the second half for 29 points in routing the Blackhawks.

Two nights after Bloomer gave Chetek its first loss of the season, the Blackhawks (1-4, 1-1 HON) evened their Heart O’North record.

Only five girls scored for Ladysmith (3-1, 1-1 HON) in the game and the Lumberjills were led by Nicole Flackey. Shania Lane added 14 and Rachel Sands had 12.

Alyssa Harms and Sabra Meinen each had 10 for Bloomer.