Photo by Jen Kuhn Bonduel High School sophomore Danee Collier prepares to dish an assist Saturday night during the Bears' 58-17 nonconference win over visiting Oconto Falls.
Photo by Jen Kuhn Bonduel High School's Kailee Pedersen is hemmed in by Elizabeth Manns and Madison Helmle of Oconto Falls during Bonduel's 58-17 rout of the Panthers at Bonduel on Saturday night .
When coaches draw up a game plan for how to maximize their team’s strengths and expose an opponent’s weaknesses, when the Xs and Os on the chalkboard all do what they’re supposed to do, Saturday night at Bonduel High School was what that looks like.
Best possible scenarios were occurring wholesale for the Bears’ girls basketball team, as they broke to a 12-0 lead against Oconto Falls and roundly trampled the visitors 58-17.
With the nonconference win, Bonduel improved to a blemish-free 18-0 and further asserted itself as a legitimate contender in the Division 4 postseason field.
“We didn’t know what to expect, because we didn’t know much about them,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “We knew that we were long, but that they were quick. So our focus was on moving our feet on defense, to try and not let their quickness hurt us. It was a good game for us.”
The Bears attacked the glass with a ferocity that set the tone for the lopsided victory, pulling down eight offensive rebounds in the first quarter as they built a 14-3 lead.
Buckets by Danee Collier and Kailee Pedersen got the ball rolling, and after offensive boards by Taylor Weier and Lexi Reinke kept another possession alive, Deanna Zernicke hit a 3-pointer that compelled Oconto Falls coach Mike Kaczmarek Jr. to call one of three Panthers first-quarter timeouts.
“We didn’t play very well, and we had to play an outstanding game against a team like Bonduel,” said Kaczmarek, whose team fell to 7-11. “They’re tall, they shoot well, they play good defense and they’re well coached. It’s going to take a really talented team to beat them.”
Bonduel’s 58 points were spread out among nine players. Zernicke’s four treys gave her a game-high 12 points, Taylor Weier netted 10 and Jen Dowden played a sparkling floor game while scoring 11 and pulling down eight boards.
“We didn’t know what to expect, so we knew we had to battle, we had to grind,” Jen Dowden said. “But it ended up that our offense was working and our defense was really good tonight. Offensive rebounding is something we work on a lot in practice. The coaches always tell us, ‘Finish out a play, finish out a play,’ so tonight we were able to do that.”
Throughout the memorable run of Ws, Missy Dowden and her staff have done a commendable job of keeping the team’s eyes on the now and not the later. Big challenges await the Bears, beginning with a home game against Weyauwega-Fremont on Tuesday, followed by a clash at Wittenberg-Birnamwood. Bonduel handed Wittenberg-Birnamwood its only Central Wisconsin Conference-8 loss, a 46-43 decision on Jan. 13.
“Bonduel is good enough to win it all in Division 4,” Kaczmarek Jr. said. “They’re a complete team.”
Oconto Falls 3 6 4 4 - 17
Bonduel 14 18 11 15 - 58