Chris Caporale sports@wolfrivermedia.com
Leader photo by Chris Caporale Clintonville’s Caitie Carpenter looks to pass to a teammate during the second half of Thursday’s loss to Bonduel.
After Emily Sorenson scored quickly to push the Bonduel Bears in front of the host Truckers, it was time for senior forward Taylor Weier to take over.
She did just that, controlling all aspects of the game, posting a double-double and leading the Bears to a 65-51 victory Thursday night.
The Bears, after opening their season on Tuesday with a win, were slow out of the gates, allowing Clintonville to stay with them.
“I figured we might be a little sluggish here because it is a quick turnaround,” Bonduel head coach Jerry Reinke said.
Clintonville’s Autumn Voight single-handedly kept her team in the game, scoring 10 of the Truckers’ first 13 points, but Bonduel eventually found a way to pull ahead.
Weier scored eight straight points for the Bears, who were behind 20-18 at the time, and pushed the lead to six with about six minutes remaining in the half.
“Taylor is a really tough ball player, a really good ball player,” Clintonville head coach Nick Yaeger said.
The Truckers had planned to front Weier with extra weakside help, but Yaeger admitted the help was slow getting to her most of the time, giving the senior easy layups in the lane.
Erin Baumgart made a free throw, and then a shot on the next possession for the Truckers to tighten the lead before Weier went back and scored again.
Senior Hayley Pues and junior Kailee Pedersen finished out the half with the next six points, as the Bears took a seven-point advantage into the break.
The second half brought more of the same from Bonduel, which jumped out and maintained close to a 10-point lead for the majority of the remaining time.
“I knew it would be a tougher game,” Reinke said. “They play in a bigger conference that’s a lot more physical than what we are probably used to playing, but I expected a hard fought game, and it was.”
Weier finished the game with 29 points and 11 rebounds. She added seven blocks as well. Danee Collier also posted impressive numbers on the night with seven points, seven assists and five steals in the victory.
The Bears, who seemed hurried, even with a lead, turned the ball over a few times on the night, giving the Truckers every chance to make a comeback, but given the physicality of the game, Reinke was pleased with his team.
“I thought we took care of the ball really well, actually,” Reinke said. “I think, for the most part, we took care of the basketball. We’ve got some things to shore up on defense. I would have liked to give up less than we have tonight.”
Clintonville was paced by Voight’s 15 points and Caitie Carpenter’s 11.
“The potential is there to get better defensively,” Yaeger said. “We’ve got to come together as a team defensively, like I said, and we’ll be OK.”