Somebody’s got a ‘W’ after early losses

KEWAUNEE COUNTY – Algoma and Luxemburg-Casco were looking for their first win of the season Tuesday night in a non-conference game at Fulwiler Fieldhouse.

While that one was played after our deadline, here’s how all three county girls teams fared in action last week.

Kewaunee opened the season with a 57-53 win at Denmark Nov. 19.

Lynn Geier’s team got 22 points from Jade Kroll, 15 from Gabby Stangel and 10 from Lexie Hanrahan. Lilly Morton and Braelyn Chevalier combined for 10 rebounds for the Storm, who led 30-20 at the half.

Sophomore guard Allie Van Vonderen had four three-pointers among her 28 points to pace the Vikings.

Kewaunee played Oconto Falls Tuesday and hosts Gibraltar Dec. 3 to open Packerland Conference play.

The Storm is at Manitowoc Lutheran Dec. 7. With Wrightstown’s football team playing in the state championship, the Storm’s Nov. 21 game was postponed until Dec. 30.

Meanwhile, Algoma began the 2024-2025 campaign with a 53-32 loss at Bonduel Nov. 19, playing a school that finished unbeaten in the Central Wisconsin–East Conference last season and 23-3 overall, losing to eventual D-4 state champion Laconia.

Sierra Slaby had 11 points, Claire Gerdmann seven and Jadyn Nellis five to lead the Wolves.

Valders 48, L-C 42
Last Thursday, Coach Beth Budnik’s Spartans trailed 30-22 but pulled to within one in the second half.

Down by five with about two minutes left, Sienna Blohowiak hit a three-pointer.

Brianna Bray picked up her fifth foul with 1:44 left, and the Vikings took advantage of the bonus, then double bonus.

Valders made 18 of 28 free throws on the night compared to L-C going 5 of 8.
“They had some big guards, and they’re good,” Budnik said. “They could shoot, drive and dish. We need to work on our defense, and our backside help.”

Offensively, Budnik said the girls need to look for mismatches after switches.
“Keep curling, keep cutting,” she said. “It was a good starting point for us. We were bringing the energy, and that’s something we kind of lacked at times last year,” Budnik added.

Blohowiak led the way with 12 points. Bray added 11, Alayna Deprez, 8, and Erin Cherovsky, 6. Megan Hochammer had 15 for Valders.

The Spartans open North Eastern Conference play with a pair of home games Dec. 3 and Dec. 6 against Marinette and Oconto Falls.

Freedom 63, Algoma 42
Coach Mark Zastrow’s Wolves battled another powerful non-conference opponent Friday.

The Irish were 19-8 last season, finishing a game behind North Eastern Conference champion Marinette and losing by two points in a Div. 3 sectional semifinal.

Algoma got off to a rough start, trailing 12-0. Slaby, who had 14 of her game-high 16 points in the first half, scored the team’s first basket at the 10:55 mark.

After a free throw by freshman Bristol Schmidt, Slaby got a three-pointer to fall, then hit Brooke Mattson for a bucket to cut it to five.

A Nellis triple made it 17-12 a couple minutes later, but that’s as close as the Wolves would come.

“We’re trying to build, and these kids are building, they’re working hard,” Zastrow said. “We made a little run in the first half, and we gave up two offensive rebounds on missed free throws. Those are momentum killers.”

Slaby sank two more threes, but Algoma trailed 32-20 at intermission and was outscored 16-2 in the first five minutes of the second half.

Zastrow said better man-to-man defense is needed, but he saw things he liked.
“I love the way they’re competing,” he said. “It’s a process, but we have some new kids that can come in and play and impact the team, along with the ones that have already been here. That’s encouraging.”

While Nellis struggled shooting early and had some health issues that needed attention, Zastrow said there was a minute and half spurt where she chased down three loose balls and got two rebounds.

“That was the best energy I’ve seen out of her, and that really excited me for where she’s at and what she’s willing to do for our team,” he said.

Schmidt had seven points for the Wolves, Gerdmann and Nellis each 5, Mattson, 4, freshman Lauren Loucks a triple and Nora Krause, 2.

Abigail Cropsey scored 15 and Ava Calhoon and Breana Dickrell each 11 to pace Freedom, which hit six three-pointers and made 17 of 28 free throws.

The Wolves were 11 of 17 from the line.

Algoma opens Packerland Conference play Dec. 3 at NEW/Providence Academy, then hosts Oconto on Dec. 6.