Appleton East up next
By Greg Seubert
A 2-3 start to the season is now a distant memory for the Hortonville girls’ basketball team.
The Polar Bears handed Homestead a 67-64 defeat Dec. 16 and also picked up recent Fox Valley Association wins over Kaukauna and Fond du Lac.
Hortonville 67, Homestead 64
Hortonville never trailed against the Highlanders, a team ranked in the top 10 in the latest state Division 1 poll.
The Polar Bears led by as many as 10 points in the first half, but Homestead closed the first half with an 8-0 run and the teams headed to the locker room at halftime tied at 32-32.
A 7-0 run early in the second half gave Hortonville a 47-38 lead and Kallie Peppler’s basket gave the Polar Bears a 63-53 lead.
Homestead answered with an 8-0 run that cut the lead to 63-61 with just under two minutes remaining.
A pair of free throws from Rainey Welson pushed the lead back to four points, but Homestead’s Lauren Strifling made it a one-point game with her fourth three-pointer.
The Highlanders got the ball back with 52 seconds to go, but a traveling call on Natalie Mueller with 6.7 seconds to go gave the ball back to the Polar Bears. Kardyn Peppler hit a pair of free throws for a three-point lead and Madison Fitzgibbon missed a three-pointer at the buzzer.
Welson led Hortonville with 19 points, while Mikayla Werner and Kardyn Peppler added 16 and 13, respectively.
Fitzgibbon led Homestead with 19 points.
Hortonville 75, Kaukauna 46
The Polar Bears improved to 4-1 in Fox Valley Association play Dec. 15 with a road win over the Ghosts.
Welson led Hortonville with 19 points and Kallie Pepper added 12.
Hortonville 73, Fond du Lac 45
The Polar Bears traveled to Fond du Lac Dec. 12 and returned home with a conference win over the Cardinals.
Hortonville led 37-15 at halftime and outscored the home team 36-30 in the second half.
Welson led four Hortonville players in double figures with 16 points. Werner and Kallie Peppler scored 15 points each and Kardyn Peppler added 10.
Anna Ciha led Fond du Lac with 10 points.
The Polar Bears will face another ranked team Friday, Dec. 22, as Hortonville faces Appleton East in Hortonville at 7:45 p.m. The boys’ teams will also play at 6 p.m.