An ankle injury to its leading scorer turned out to be bad news for the Waupaca girls’ basketball team.
The Comets headed into the second half of their matchup with Fox Valley Lutheran with an 18-12 lead but ended up on the short end of a 39-30 final score on Feb. 28 in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal at Waupaca High School.
Hailey Bechard came into the game as Waupaca’s leading scorer during the regular season but injured her ankle late in the first half and didn’t make it on the court in the second half.
The Comets and Foxes headed into the postseason seeded fourth and fifth, respectively, in the Pulaski Sectional and split a pair of three-point games during the regular season in North Eastern Conference play. Both teams had a bye in the tournament’s first round and the Foxes advanced to a regional final March 1 against top-seeded Shawano.
The Comets couldn’t make up for Bechard’s loss, as the Foxes turned a seven-point deficit into a 30-22 lead midway through the second half.
Fox Valley Lutheran’s Eden Last gave her team its largest lead - 34-25 - with a three-pointer. Waupaca cut the deficit to 36-30 on a pair of free throws from Alli Landre with just over four minutes left in the game, but the Foxes scored their final five points from the free-throw line.
Taylor Kling led Waupaca with 12 points, while Last and Brianna Dahlke scored 13 and 10, respectively, for the Foxes.
Waupaca finished the season with an 11-14 record, including a 9-9 mark in conference play.
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