An opportunistic defense and Kylie Johnson’s hot shooting hand helped the Iola-Scandinavia girls’ basketball team pick up a 64-31 nonconference win Nov. 21 over Wild Rose.
The Thunderbirds also opened the season Nov. 18 with a 68-20 win over Port Edwards.
I-S 64, Wild Rose 31
The T-Birds forced 25 Wild Rose turnovers and Johnson hit six three-pointers.
I-S took a 16-10 lead into the second quarter and had a 31-17 advantage at halftime. The T-Birds also outscored the Wildcats 18-8 and 15-6 in the third and fourth quarters, respectively.
Despite the one-sided score, I-S coach Mark Wester expects the Wildcats to do well this season in the Central Wisconsin 10 Conference.
“Wild Rose is going to do very well in their league this year,” he said. “They have a nice team. I think it helped us a little playing on Tuesday and this is their first night. Once they get things figured out, they’ll be very successful.”
Besides turning the ball over 25 times, the Wildcats also had trouble at times with the T-Birds’ full-court press and 1-3-1 zone defense.
“We have a lot of length with a number of different girls to make things difficult, especially against smaller guards,” Wester said. “It’s tough to see over and around 5-11 girls with long arms.”
Wild Rose also had problems with Johnson, who finished with a game-high 20 points while adding four rebounds and three assists.
“Kylie had a really good game tonight,” Wester said. “When the ball goes in the hoop like that, it makes the game really easy. We had a number of kids who really played well tonight. Baleigh Fuhs, this is her second varsity game, she had 13 in the second half. She made a lot of plays out there. That was great to see and really helps with the development of our bench.
“We’re still trying to figure out some things, too,” he said. “We need all 10 (players), even though some of them didn’t get as much playing time as I’d like. We have some quality players in that starting lineup. Barring foul trouble, we want them on the floor. Leighten (Fischer) and Brooke (Phillips) both sat a number of minutes today and never really got into a great flow because of the foul situation.”
Phillips and Fuhs also grabbed seven rebounds each and finished in double figures with 14 and 13 points, respectively. Jane Oligney chipped in with eight points and four assists, while Kaylin Ellioff finished with seven points and a team-high five steals.
Ashley Mendoza had 13 points to lead Wild Rose.
I-S 68, Port Edwards 20
Fischer led all scorers with 28 points as the T-Birds knocked off the Blackhawks in the season opener for both teams.
I-S led 20-7 after one quarter and outscored the visitors 26-4 in the second quarter to take a 46-11 halftime lead. The T-Birds also outscored Port Edwards 15-7 in the third quarter and 7-2 over the final eight minutes.
Port Edwards turned the ball over 40 times, while the T-Birds had 10 turnovers and 32 steals.
Fischer had 10 steals, five assists and four rebounds to go along with her 28 points, while Phillips added 20 points and seven steals and Johnson had nine points on three three-pointers.
Wester said the T-Birds will rely on Phillips, Johnson and Oligney, three seniors with plenty of varsity experience between them.
“Brooke, Kylie and Jane have been four-year players. Brooke and Kylie have started every game in their careers. Kylie’s been the point guard since day 1, which obviously helps out a lot. There’s a lot of experience there.”
The T-Birds lost several players to graduation last year, including Emily Sether, Karina Welch, CharAnn Bonikowske, Natalie Gauerke, Tyisha Weed and Krystal Tysdal.
“We had a lot of nice depth and competed against each other in practice very well,” Wester said. “This year, we want to develop that depth.”
Besides Bonduel, he expects Wittenberg-Birnamwood, Weyauwega-Fremont, Amherst and Shiocton to contend for a conference championship.
Wester hopes to build off of the early wins.
“You play what’s in front of you,” he said. “There are going to be plenty of challenges down the road, but this is a great way to get our feet on the ground. Wins are getter than losses. We can build on this. You can learn a lot from a loss, but our job is to learn from the wins, too.”
The T-Birds traveled to Marion Nov. 25 and will head to Stratford Tuesday, Dec. 2, before opening Central Wisconsin 8 Conference play Tuesday, Dec. 9, at Bonduel.
“There are some quality teams there,” Wester said. “Marion is going to be one of the favorites in the CWC-10, Stratford is a solid group that plays in a really good league and Bonduel is probably the favorite in the CWC-8 and arguably the best player in the conference in Jenni Dowden. There are some good things ahead for us, but we can build off of this and keep playing well.”
Iola-Scandinavia Girls’ Basketball 2014-15 Schedule
Varsity
Saturday, Nov. 15 – Scrimmage vs. Melrose-Mindoro, Wisconsin Dells, Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs and Southern Door at Wisconsin Dells.
Tuesday, Nov. 18 – vs. Port Edwards, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 21 – vs. Wild Rose, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 25 – at Marion, 6:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 2 – at Stratford, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 9 – at Bonduel, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 12 – vs. Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 16 – at Stevens Point Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 19 – vs. Shiocton, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 30 – at Tigerton, 5 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 9 – at Amherst, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 – vs. Manawa, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 – at Weyauwega-Fremont, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 20 – vs. Wisconsin Valley Lutheran, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 22 – vs. Bonduel, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 – at Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 – vs. Stevens Point Pacelli, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 – vs. Rosholt, 6 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 – at Shiocton, 7:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 – vs. Amherst, 7:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 12 – at Manawa, 7:30 p.m. (rescheduled from Feb. 13)
Saturday, Feb. 14 – vs. Auburndale, 1 p.m. (rescheduled from Jan. 3)
Thursday, Feb. 19 – vs. Weyauwega-Fremont, 7:30 p.m.
Junior Varsity
Tuesday, Nov. 18 – vs. Port Edwards, 6 p.m.
Friday, Nov. 21 – vs. Wild Rose, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Nov. 25 – at Marion, 5 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 2 – at Stratford, 5:45 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 9 – at Bonduel, 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 12 – vs. Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 16 – at Stevens Point Pacelli, 6 p.m.
Friday, Dec. 19 – vs. Shiocton, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Dec. 30 – at Tigerton, 3:30 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 9 – at Amherst, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 13 – vs. Manawa, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 16 – at Weyauwega-Fremont, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 22 – vs. Bonduel, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Jan. 27 – at Wittenberg-Birnamwood, 6 p.m.
Friday, Jan. 30 – vs. Stevens Point Pacelli, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 – vs. Rosholt, 7:30 p.m.
Friday, Feb. 6 – at Shiocton, 6 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 10 – vs. Amherst, 6 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 12 – at Manawa, 6 p.m. (rescheduled from Feb. 13)
Saturday, Feb. 14 – vs. Auburndale, 11:30 a.m. (rescheduled from Jan. 3)
Thursday, Feb. 19 – vs. Weyauwega-Fremont, 6 p.m.
Middle School
Thursday, Jan. 8 – vs. Port Edwards, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 12 – vs. Almond-Bancroft, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 15 – at St. Peter’s, Stevens Point, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 19 – at Rosholt, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 22 – at Wild Rose, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Jan. 26 – vs. Plainfield Tri-County, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Jan. 29 – vs. Amherst, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 2 – at Port Edwards, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 3 – at Manawa, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 5 – at Almond-Bancroft, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 9 – vs. St. Peter’s, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 12 – vs. Rosholt, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 16 – vs. Wild Rose, 5:30 p.m.
Thursday, Feb. 19 – at Plainfield Tri-County, 5:30 p.m.
Monday, Feb. 23 – at Amherst, 5:30 p.m.
Tuesday, Feb. 24 – vs. Manawa, 5:30 p.m.