The Lady Bulldogs are Regional Champions for the fourth time in six seasons with a season sweep 63-38 win over their County rival, Waupaca.
The Bulldogs had a 20-9 lead after one quarter and later were up 34-20 at the half, outscoring the comets 14-11 in the second quarter.
The Bulldogs came out again in the third quarter allowing the Comets to score 10 points while the Bulldogs put up 19 of their own.
It was more Bulldogs in the fourth quarter as the they ran away 10-8. Raining three’s was a theme in the New London student section as the team shot nine three-pointers on the night, four coming from Tara Knapstein who led the team with 20 points.
Bridget Pethke followed with 14 points and two three-pointers. Kristen Fuss and Katie Barlow each had 12 for the Comets.
“I thought the girls were really focused on what they needed to accomplish to be successful. They did an excellent job executing the game plans and shot the ball very well. They did a good job forcing some turnovers on defense and turning them into some easy baskets on the offensive end,” said New London Coach Troy Krause.
Up next for the 21-3 Bulldogs will be the Medford Raiders which defeated Lakeland 57-44. They sit at 16-7 and hail from the Great Northern Conference.
Tipoff for the game is scheduled for 7 p.m. Thursday, March 17 at Waupaca High School. If the Bulldogs win they will play either Sparta or Rice Lake at 7 p.m. Saturday, March 19 in the Sectional final game at Marshfield. Tickets for the game are $4.00. Please check the WIAA website as game times may change.
WP 9 11 10 8 38
NL 20 14 19 10 63
NL Knapstein 20 Pethke 14 Steinert 8 Schuh 6 Fitzgerald 4 Heise 4 Managan 3 Schlieve 2 Steffanus 2
Hortonville victory
NEW LONDON – The Bulldogs started out its tournament run hot, after a whopping 67-24 win over Hortonville.
A 20-2 lead over the Polar Bears at the end of the first quarter got things going. The 20-2 lead would later turn into 45-6 at halftime. The Bulldogs started where they left off in the fourth quarter putting more points on the board as they led 59-10 going into the final quarter. Hortonville outscored the Bulldogs 14-8 in the fourth quater but, New London had enough on the board to earn its three game sweep of the Polar Bears. The scoring was pretty well balanced for New London. Tara Knapstein led the team with 14 points followed by Morgan Steinert with 11. The Bulldogs also shot well at the arc with eight three-point baskets. Knapstein had three and Coral Managan had two. Kayla Schuh, Emily Steffanus and Brooke Fitzgerald each had one. Free Throws were also evident on the night as the Bulldogs knocked down19 of 24 shooting 79%.
Hort. 2 4 4 14 – 24
NL 20 25 14 8 – 67
Hortonville: Winterfeldt 2, Diedrich 2, Rinehart 3, Banker 3, Sommers 4, Becker 4, Hoerning 2, Lambie 4. FT: 2-7. Fouls: 18. Fouled out: Rinehart.
New London: Managan 6, Fitzgerald 5, Knapstein 14, Pethke 4, Scott 2, Steinert 11, Schuh 7, P. Schlieve 3, Heise 3, Steffanus 5, M. Schlieve 2, Paalman 5. 3 pt: Knapstein 3, Managan 2, Fitzgerald, Schuh, Steffanus. FTs: 19-24. Fouls: 11.