Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School senior Emily Sorenson looks to pass while driving the lane in the first half of Bonduel’s 68-46 victory over Shawano on Saturday. Sorenson scored a game-high 17 points.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Shawano Community High School sophomore Kennedy Klemens runs a fastbreak against Bonduel’s Althea Berry late in the second half of Shawano’s 68-46 loss on the road. Klemens posted 12 points for the Hawks.
Bonduel senior Emily Sorenson scored eight points in the first eight minutes as the Bears jumped out to an early 11-point lead over Shawano on Saturday.
The Hawks cut the deficit to seven points a minute later, but a 22-11 run to close out the half allowed the Bears to coast to a 68-46 home victory over Shawano.
“It’s been back and forth, I mean, they beat us a couple of times, and we’ve beat them a couple of times,” Bonduel head coach Jerry Reinke said. “It’s great. I think it’s great energy in the building. I’m sure our kids were fired up to come out and play.”
Shawano, playing without starting point guard Hannah Wendorff, turned the ball over 27 times, which led to many fastbreak opportunities for the Bears.
Sorenson tallied five steals, and guard Danee Collier added four steals to go with her four assists and eight rebounds.
“They’re quick. They played really quick tonight,” Shawano head coach Ryan Koenig said. “They played really well. There’s nothing else to say about it. They came in and gave us our medicine.”
“I thought we had a lot of hands on a lot of balls, a lot of deflections,” Reinke said. “Our kids are long and they anticipate well, and I think a lot of it had to do with you’re getting out in transition with steals and everything else.”
Shawano guard Kennedy Klemens led the Hawks with 12 points. Junior Brandi Gueths scored 10 points, all from the free-throw line.
“We just didn’t hit shots, and we’ve got to get the ball inside more,” Koenig said. “They had a small lineup to start, and we wanted to get the ball inside, but settled for outside shots. When you do that but you’re not hitting, it makes for a long night.”
The Bears, leading by 18 at the half, opened the second half with an 8-2 run one three points from Sorenson and another five from Collier to double up Shawano 48-24.
Sorenson finished with 17 points, Collier posted 12 and Brynn Reinke also reached double figures with 11.
“I thought our kids played well, and we’re old,” Reinke said. “We’re old compared to Shawano, so I’m sure that had a little bit to play in it.”
Bonduel’s rotation of players included six seniors; Shawano had zero, a drastic change from the eight who played for the Hawks in last year’s rivalry game.
Shawano (46)
Klemens 3 4-7 12; Williams 0 5-8 5; Buschman 0 1-2 1; T. DePerry 2 1-2 5; Ward 1 2-2 4; Hansen 1 1-2 3; Wynos 1 0-0 3; Young 1 0-0 3; Gueths 0 10-10 10.
Bonduel (68)
Collier 4 4-6 12; H. Sorenson 3 0-0 6; E. Sorenson 6 5-9 17; Wollenberg 1 0-0 2; Reinke 4 2-5 11; Wudtke 2 1-2 5; Pedersen 0 2-4 2; Berry 2 0-0 4; Guenther 2 2-2 7; Carpenter 1 0-0 2.
Shawano 22 24 — 46
Bonduel 40 28 — 68