Team pounds Prairie 71-20
By Jason Arndt
Staff Writer
The Broncos could have buckled with less than four minutes of regulation in a tightly contested battle with visiting Wilmot on Dec. 20.
But, the youthful Union Grove girls didn’t break under pressure, even as the Panthers battled back take a 55-54 lead.
Union Grove, which overcame a large deficit earlier in the game, rattled off nine consecutive points to come away with a 63-55 Southern Lakes Conference win.
The Broncos victory, meanwhile, kept the team unbeaten in conference play, and handed Wilmot its first loss of the season.
For Union Grove, which has four sophomores and three freshmen, coach Robert Domagalski came away impressed with his team’s performance in the final stretch.
“They could have folded really easily with four or five minutes to go,” he said. “I am really happy for our team.”
Union Grove improved to 7-1 overall and 4-0 in conference while the Panthers dropped to 6-1 and 3-1 in the SLC.
For the Panthers, coach Jerod Boyd said he believes the Panthers became intimidated down the final stretch.
“We have got people that played three years on varsity and they are scared,” he said. “You could see it in our eyes. They didn’t want to be in a situation like this.”
In addition, Boyd found the loss disconcerting and expected more on defense.
“Disappointing, I guess is the word for it. We played terrible defensively, just no ownership, no boxing out, a lot of effort things, which kills us,” he said.
As for the late rally, the Panthers pulled ahead 55-54 on a shot by senior Karina Leber, before the Broncos pushed back.
Junior Angela Slattery drew a foul and converted both of her free throws to give Union Grove a 56-55 edge.
Slattery scored 12 points and collected 10 rebounds to finish with a double-double.
From there, senior Megan Barber and Sophia Rampulla made back-to-back buckets, which put the Broncos ahead 60-55.
The Broncos then converted 3 of 4 free throws to secure their victory.
Union Grove’s win against Wilmot comes after a sluggish start to the matchup between unbeaten conference teams.
Early deficit
The Panthers opened the Dec. 20 contest with a 10-3 lead.
“I will say I thought Wilmot did a better job to begin with the game with their energy,” Domagalski said. “They definitely came out swinging and got that lead. We looked flat. They were out hustling us. We have been talking about that and our young girls, especially, they are not used to playing at that speed.”
Union Grove cut its deficit to 10-7 with a basket by senior Payton Killberg followed by free throws from sophomore Emmy Pettit and Slattery.
Panthers senior Kenzi Ketterhagen then answered with a bucket and took a 12-7 lead.
The Broncos, however, responded with an 8-0 run led by sophomore Payton Calouette.
Calouette, who opened with a mid-range jumper, then knocked in back-to-back 3-pointers at each perimeter corner to give Union Grove a 15-12 lead with 9:04 left in the first half.
Calouette tallied a team-leading 13 points, including nine from the beyond the arc, for the Broncos.
“Phenomenal job by Payton, it just shows that any player on our team can step up and hit a bunch of 3’s or any shot and bring us back in the game,” Slattery said.
Domagalski agreed, adding anyone is a capable of playing the hero on his team.
“Every game, there is a different person stepping up, and I think that makes us a tough team,” he said. “I am sure Payton Calouette wasn’t their main focus and she was our hero tonight at times.”
After Shelly Edmonds pulled the contest within one, the Broncos again went on an extended run, this time rattling off seven straight points to extend its lead to 22-14.
The Panthers seemingly answered each of the Broncos points for the rest of the first half, which Slattery closed out with a layup, taking Union Grove into halftime with a 31-24 edge.
On the brink
Wilmot opened the second half on an 8-0 run after a 3-point play by junior Sophia Parisi, one of senior Julia Hickey’s five 3-pointers, and Ketterhagen basket to pull the game in Wilmot’s favor 32-31 at 14:55.
Hickey scored a game high 15 points with all coming from the perimeter while Parisi pitched in 13.
From there, the game turned into a back-and-forth affair and consisted of five deadlocks, with the final stalemate at 54-54.
The Panthers, down 54-50 after a Killberg 3-pointer, responded with back-to-back baskets by Leber in the low post.
Leber, limited in the first half because of foul trouble, then gave the Panthers their final lead at 55-54 after converting one of two free throws.
Leber scored seven of her 11 points in the half.
Rampulla finished with 10 rebounds along with nine points for the Broncos.
Union Grove 71, The Prairie School 20
Union Grove carried momentum from its win against Wilmot the following day in nonconference game with The Prairie School.
The Broncos, who won 71-20, improved to 8-1 overall and remained idle at 4-0 in conference play.
Barber went 4-for-5 from 3-point range and finished with a game-high 18 points for Union Grove.
Grove freshman Sydney Ludvigsen converted 5 of 7 3-pointers to tally an additional 17 points.
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