Hortonville loses to Onalaska
By Scott Bellile
The Hortonville girls’ basketball team ended its postseason run short of a sectional title at Eau Claire North High School Saturday, March 5.
In a back-and-forth sectional final, the No. 1-ranked Polar Bears (22-3) started by gaining, losing, regaining and losing the lead to No. 2 Onalaska (20-5) in the first 18 minutes to end the half behind by one point 24-23.
In the second half, the Polar Bears chased behind the Hilltoppers before earning back the lead (42-41) with eight minutes remaining. But several free throws within the next 40 seconds boosted Onalaska to 46-42.
Numerous fouls during the second half put the teams into bonus with four minutes remaining. The bonus led to more points for Onalaska as the team scored most of its shots from the free throw line. Hortonville junior Morgan Allen fouled out with 22 seconds left. Onalaska carried on to win 59-52.
Hortonville head coach Jeff Chew said the loss came down to his team not getting the shots it needed. Onalaska also did a good job of taking away Hortonville’s shooters, he said.
“I thought we did the things we needed to do,” Chew said. “We could have made a few more shots. We lost their shooters a couple times in our zone. We’ve done a good job in our zone all year.”
Onalaska will carry on to the Division 2 State Girls’ Basketball Tournament beginning Friday, March 11.
The game was the final one for Hortonville seniors Madi Walter, Emma Kloes, Lexy Campshure, Jenna Jalling and Gabby McKeever. Chew said Hortonville has a solid JV team that will help fill in the varsity team next year.
“This year was a very good group of seniors,” Chew said. “They had some good leadership. They did a nice job out there all year for us.”