Brooke Phillips scored her 1,000th career point in her final regular-season girls’ basketball game, but Iola-Scandinavia came up on the short end of a 46-41 score Feb. 19 to Weyauwega-Fremont.
Phillips came into the game with 998 points under her belt and led the Thunderbirds with 14 in the Central Wisconsin 8 Conference matchup.
The T-Birds took a 24-17 lead into the locker room at halftime after outscoring the Indians 11-7 in the first quarter and 13-10 in the second.
However, W-F cut the lead with a 14-8 advantage in the third quarter before outscoring the home team 15-9 over the final eight minutes.
“We struggled early in the game with turnovers and they did a good job of putting us in some spots where we didn’t want to be,” W-F coach Joe Titus said. “We did a much better job in the second half getting the ball where we wanted it. Alyssa (Goode) did a very good job getting the ball to Karissa (Akey) and Hailey (Krause) in the middle and the post and Becky (Schroeder) had some very good finds underneath.”
Akey led the Indians with 17 points, while Krause and Goode added 10 and eight, respectively. Fischer had 11 points for the T-Birds to go along with Phillips’ 14.
“They struggled with Karissa’s size when we were able to get it to her in the paint,” Titus said. “Alyssa and Kiley (Akey) hit some key threes at big times for us. We missed our share of free throws, but we knocked them down when they mattered most. Kylie and Karissa combined to go 6-for-6 at the end.”
The Indians finished third in the CWC-8 final standings with a 9-5 record, while the T-Birds tied with Amherst for fifth with a 6-8 mark.
“Iola is a well-coached, very athletic team,” Titus said. “We knew it was going to be battle. It always is, especially up at their place. We have a lot of respect for coach (Mark) Wester and the kind of basketball they play. It was all we could do to scrape out a W.”
Both teams opened WIAA state tournament play Feb. 24 with Division 4 home games. The third-seeded T-Birds hosted No. 6 Manawa, while the Indians, a No. 4 seed, hosted No. 5 Green Lake Princeton.
If I-S defeated Manawa, the T-Birds will play at No. 2 Shiocton at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 27, in a regional semifinal.
If the Indians top Green Lake/Princeton, W-F will take on top-seeded Fond du Lac St. Mary’s Springs at 7 p.m. Feb. 27 on the Ledgers’ home court in Fond du Lac.
CWC-8 Girls’ Basketball Final Standings
Conf. Overall
Bonduel 13-1 21-1
Witt-Birn 12-2 20-2
Wega-Fremont 9-5 15-7
Shiocton 8-6 13-9
Iola-Scandy 6-8 12-10
Amherst 6-8 9-13
SP Pacelli 2-12 4-18
Manawa 0-14 3-19