Gerrard Diaz, gdiaz@shawanoleader.com
eader Photo by Gerrard Diaz Bonduel High School forward Jennifer Dowden passes the ball to Deanna Zernicke during a nonconference game against Oconto Falls on Friday in Bonduel. Bonduel lost, 52-40.
Leader Photo by Gerrard Diaz Bonduel High School junior Jennifer Dowden tries to get around Oconto Falls’ Bailey Wolf during a nonconference game Friday in Bonduel. Bonduel lost, 52-40.
The Bonduel High School girls basketball team tried to make it two thrilling comebacks in a row, but stalled down the stretch Friday in a 52-40 loss to Oconto Falls at home.
The Bears (14-4, 9-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-8), who beat CWC-8 rival Wittenberg-Birnamwood in dramatic fashion Thursday, trailed by as many as 16 points in the first half, but caught up to Oconto Falls (15-2, 10-2 Bay) in the third quarter.
With Bonduel trailing 38-36 to start the fourth quarter, Taylor Weier, a 5-foot-10 sophomore, tied the game at 38-38 and again at 40-40 with just under 6 minutes left to play.
A pair of baskets by Oconto Falls, one by star McKenna Larsen and another by Elizabeth Watzka, gave the Panthers a four-point lead.
Bonduel went scoreless the rest of the way, while Oconto Falls hit six of 10 shots at the free-throw line and senior Carly Lemke added another basket.
“Yesterday, they were so high, and tonight, they’re so disappointed,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “They have to hold their chins up. We came out flat. We decided to pick up the defense in the second half … and away we went.”
The Panthers opened the game with a 15-3 run.
“They came out in man (defense),” Oconto Falls coach Mike Kaczmarek said. “That kind of surprised us. We thought they’d play zone.”
Bonduel stayed in the game with a string of five 3-pointers in the first half and had eight in the game. Jennifer Dowden, a 6-0 junior forward who led the team with 19 points, scored three. Deanna Zernicke provided three more and finished with nine points. Alexa Reinke added two more, along with five rebounds and four blocks.
“What they have, and we don’t even have this in the Bay Conference, is their length,” Kaczmarek said. “Their zone, with Reinke and Dowden, we’re not used to that length.
“It was a well-played high school basketball game. Bonduel has a very nice team.”
Larsen led Oconto Falls, scoring 16 of her 25 points in the first half. Watzka added 10.
“We did much better in the second half on her,” Missy Dowden said. “I didn’t think they believed me when I said if she touches the ball she’s going to shoot. To me, we don’t have a player in our conference that if they touch it, it’s going to go in.”
The Bears are in the middle of a decisive stretch, playing Amherst on Monday. Bonduel, Amherst and Wittenberg-Birnamwood are in a close race atop the CWC-8 standings.
“We lost, but it was a good game for us,” Missy Dowden said. “Two games in a row, we get a day off here and then we come right back with Amherst. It’s a good situation for us going into the playoffs.”
The undefeated Bonduel junior varsity team extended its winning streak to 17, beating Oconto Falls 47-25. Kailee Pedersen and Emily Sorenson scored 12 points each.
Oconto Falls (52)
Watzka 3 4-6 10, Lemke 3 3-4 9, Manns 2 0-0 6, Larsen 10 3-5 25, Helmle 1 0-0 2
Bonduel (40)
Dowden 7 2-2 19, Reinke 2 0-0 6, Weier 2 0-1 4, Zernicke 3 0-0 9, Sorenson 1 0-0 2
Oconto Falls 19 9 10 14 — 52
Bonduel 11 9 16 4 — 40