Chris Caporale, sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School senior Emily Sorenson passes to a teammate in the first half of Thursday’s 55-24 home victory over Manawa. Sorenson tallied a game-high 11 points to go with seven steals.
Leader Photo by Chris Caporale Bonduel High School senior Kailee Pedersen dribbles baseline to get behind the Manawa defense in the first half of Bonduel’s win Thursday. Pedersen posted seven first-half points as the Bears jumped ahead 28-9 at the break and won 55-24 at home.
Forcing turnovers and crashing the offensive rebounds allowed the Bonduel girls basketball team to dominate Manawa at home Thursday night, 55-24.
Bonduel finished the regular season in a tie with Shiocton for third place in the Central Wisconsin Conference-8. Amherst and Wittenberg-Birnamwood each went 13-1 in CWC-8 play and tied for the conference title.
The Bears (15-6, 8-5 CWC-8) used a 16-0 run, led by Kailee Pedersen’s seven points and Emily Sorenson’s five points over eight minutes in the first half, to pull ahead 17-2.
Becca Carpenter had an offensive rebound and putback, and Brynn Reinke added a fastbreak layup during the stretch.
“I told them it was very important to be fundamentally sound tonight,” Bonduel head coach Jerry Reinke said.
Sydney Bailey ended Manawa’s scoring drought with a layup, and then got two more free throws almost four minutes later. She scored the first six points of the game for the Wolves, who had just nine points in the opening half.
Bonduel opened the second half with four layups before Hayley Sorenson knocked down a 3 to push the lead to 25. Brynn Reinke added a jumper, and Emily Sorenson easily finished a layup for the 29-point lead in the rematch of a game played Friday in Manawa. The Bears won that one 60-36.
“We played them a week ago and had a lot of turnovers, and that transition kind of continued a little bit tonight,” Manawa head coach Patrick Collins said. “It was a tough night.”
Bonduel had 24 steals Thursday, including eight from guard Danee Collier, who also had seven rebounds and six steals.
Emily Sorenson, who tied her sister Hayley with a game-high 11 points, posted seven steals for the Bears.
The Wolves cut into the deficit by getting to the free-throw line in the second half. Manawa, which was just 11 of 27 from the charity stripe, made six consecutive attempts in an 8-0 run to bring the visitors back within 21, but that was as close as they would get.
“We told the girls to attack, and our point guard Haley Reierson did a nice job of taking it to the hoop and being aggressive, and some of the other girls started to follow with that,” Collins said.
Reierson had 11 points to lead the Wolves (6-16, 1-13 CWC-8).
The Bears will now turn their attention to Wabeno/Laona in a WIAA Division 4 regional quarterfinal at home Tuesday.
Reinke wants his team to play in the postseason like it did Thursday.
“You definitely have to come out with a lot of energy,” Reinke said. “The postseason is always fun. I want them to enjoy the journey.”
Manawa (24)
Bessette 0 4-4 4; Struzynski 1 1-6 3; Reierson 3 4-5 11; Schernecker 0 0-1 0; Wepner 0 0-2 0; Bailey 1 2-9 6.
Bonduel (55)
Collier 1 0-1 2; H. Sorenson 4 2-2 11; E. Sorenson 5 1-1 11; Wollenberg 0 0-2 0; Reinke 4 0-0 9; Pedersen 4 1-1 9; Schnell 1 1-3 3; Carpenter 2 1-2 5; LaBerge 0 3-4 3; Bohr 1 0-0 2.
Manawa 9 15 — 24
Bonduel 28 27 — 55