Waupaca girls fall to Freedom
Big runs lift Irish over Comets
By Greg Seubert
Basketball often turns into a game of runs.
The Freedom girls’ basketball team used two of them Feb. 2 to post a 71-36 North Eastern Conference win over Waupaca on the Comets’ home court.
Finley Charapata’s basket gave Waupaca a 12-11 lead eight minutes into the game, but the Irish closed the first half with a 27-3 run that gave the visitors a 38-15 lead at the break.
Freedom, which had already wrapped up the conference championship, then opened the second half with a 14-2 run to push its lead to 35 points.
Waupaca’s Seattle Lettau led all scorers with 14 points and Savannah Wehmeyer also finished in double figures with 10.
Gabby Johnson and Callie Genke led the Irish with 12 points each.
Waupaca fell to 7-8 in conference play and 7-9 overall, while Freedom pushed its North Eastern record to 17-0 and its overall mark to 20-1.
Both teams have a bye in the first round of the WIAA state tournament and will open postseason play at 7 p.m. Friday, Feb. 12, with a Division 2 regional semifinal.
Third-seeded Waupaca will head to Appleton to play No. 2 Fox Valley Lutheran, while the top-seeded Irish will host No. 4 Little Chute or No. 5 New London.