Chris Caporale sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School sophomore Brynn Reinke drives around Amherst’s Becca Glisczinski in the first half of the Bears’ 54-45 loss Friday night.
Despite the Bonduel girls basketball team holding a 10-point lead just three minutes into the second half, foul trouble seemed to turn the momentum in favor of the visitors.
Taylor Weier picked up her fourth foul with nearly 15 minutes remaining in the game, and junior Hayley Sorenson was not far behind, as the Amherst Falcons scored 40 second-half points in a 54-45 victory Friday night.
Weier, Sorenson and Danee Collier each had four fouls with 7:32 remaining in the game and the Bears clinging to a 1-point lead.
“It’s tough to get in (a rhythm) offensively, especially when you’re shuffling kids in there that aren’t used to scoring a lot,” Bonduel head coach Jerry Reinke said. “Definitely the foul trouble affected us.”
In the eight-minute stretch with Weier on the bench, as the Falcons went on a 16-8 run to close the gap to 2.
Even once the three Bears were back on the court, it seemed difficult to find their groove, as each tried to do their best to remain in the game, given the erratic whistles blown all night.
“Putting them in foul trouble, you hate to say it, but high school kids play different,” Amherst head coach Gregg Jensen said. “No matter how good a player, you play different because you never know what they are going to call.”
The Falcons were in the double-bonus less than halfway through the second half, including 17-for-30 shooting from the free throw line in the closing half en route to doubling-up the Bears 40-20 in the final 18 minutes of the game.
Bonduel attempted just 17 free throws on the night, making 11.
Amherst took advantage in the post during the stretch, with Kendra Dombrowski and Heather Pearson combining for 10 consecutive points to take a 43-40 lead with 4:37 remaining in the game.
The first half was a completely different story, as Bonduel used a 1-2-2 zone to hound the Falcons, causing havoc and forcing many turnovers to hold Amherst to only 14 first-half points.
“We were trying to take the post play away, and we did for the most part,” Reinke said. “We tried to dig from the wings on the post, and I thought we did a pretty good job of that in the first half.”
Jensen said that the Falcons (12-5, 8-2 Central Wisconsin Conference-8) were not efficient in moving the ball around, allowing the Bears (10-8, 5-5 CWC-8) to be aggressive and force some steals.
“They extended in their zone, and we did a poor job of reversing the ball,” Jensen said. “We’ve got to make the defense work a little bit.”
The foul trouble, combined with starting guard Kailee Pedersen missing the game with a sickness, made Reinke throw players in positions they may not have been used to.
With Emily Sorenson scoring a team-high 15 points for Bonduel, and Weier adding 11 of her own, which included 8 first-half points.
Collier added seven assists and six steals on the night.
“I thought we played pretty well. When we did get in foul trouble, we were sending kids out there to play in wherever we were putting them,” Reinke said. “We were kind of in a bind with the foul trouble. I was happy with the way they played. I thought they gave good effort.”
Pearson led all scorers with 19 points, while Dombrowski added 15 for the Falcons who are playing good basketball right now, having won two straight games, including a three-point victory over the previously undefeated Wittenberg-Birnamwood Chargers last Friday.
Amherst (54)
Moe 0 1-2 1, Felckowski 1 2-5 4, Groshek 2 0-0 4, S. Dombrowski 1 2-2 4, Berry 1 4-7 7, K. Dombrowski 6 3-6 15, Pearson 6 7-11 19.
Bonduel (45)
Coller 0 2-2 2, H. Sorenson 1 2-3 4, E. Sorenson 6 2-3 15, Reinke 1 0-0 3, Schmidt 2 0-0 4, Weier 3 5-9 11, Pues 2 0-0 4, Wudtke 1 0-0 2.
Amherst 14 40 — 54
Bonduel 25 20 — 45