Sauk Prairie gets defensive

By Dan Larson, Sauk Prairie Eagle

At first glance, Sauk Prairie's Badger North conference-opening loss to Reedsburg might seem pretty straightforward.

A 13-6 third quarter run by the host Beavers, who led by one at halftime, and a 12-of-15 effort from the free throw line in the fourth went a long way in helping them to a 43-34 win Nov. 25.

A second look, though, shows just how hard they had to work to get to that point.

"I was really pleased with us defensively," Sauk Prairie coach Bob Marquardt said in a phone interview Nov. 30 of his team's ability to go into halftime trailing 14-13 despite making just three of 28 (10.7 percent) first-half field goals. "Offense is always something that can come and go ... but if you play defense, you always give yourself a chance to win. We felt good about that — that offensively we were struggling, but defensively we stayed in the game."

And the Eagles did, in fact, continue to stay in the game, even after Reedsburg's third quarter spurt left it with a 27-19 lead heading into the fourth.

Sarah Osgood scored four points and Kelsey Budd, who finished with a team-high 12 points, added three in a 10-4 fourth-quarter run that helped Sauk Prairie pull to within 33-29 with just over four minutes left in the game.

"At that point, I was feeling good about where we were at," Marquardt said. "We had the momentum on our side."

But it didn't stay in Sauk Prairie's favor for long. After a Reedsburg (2-0 overall, 1-0 Badger North) timeout, the Eagles fouled and put the Beavers on the free-throw line, where they missed the front end of a one-and-one but were able to come up with the offensive rebound. Another Eagles' foul put the  Beavers on the line again, and this time they capitalize on two free throws to extend the lead to six.

And Sauk Prairie (1-1, 0-1) would only score five more points the rest of the way as Reedsburg pulled away at the free throw line. Tracee Schrank, who the Eagles keyed on entering the game and held to two points through the first three quarters, made seven of eight at the line in the quarter to finish with nine points and help seal the win.

Ashley Wipperfurth, Lacey Puls and Osgood all finished with seven points to complement Budd, while Shelby Beth led the Beavers with 13 points.

Despite the loss, though, Marquardt was encouraged by his team's effort.

"Overall, I come away more encouraged than discouraged. I saw a lot of good things happen defensively," he said of his team's defense, which more than made up for the team's 10-of52 (19.2 percent) offensive effort. "Our defense gave us a chance to win the game when we couldn't convert offensively."

Nov. 25
REEDSBURG 43, SAUK PRAIRIE 34

Sauk Prairie    5    8    6    15        —    34

Reedsburg      9    5    13    6        —    43

SAUK PRAIRIE (Points): Lacey Puls 7, Sarah Osgood 7, Ashley Wipperfurth 7, Kelsey Budd 12, Rachel Meyer 1. Total field goals: 10.

REEDSBURG: Schrank 9, Hahn 9, Harms 7, Lichte 5, Beth 13. Total field goals: 13.

3-point goals: Sauk Prairie 2 (Osgood 1, Budd 1). Reedsburg 3 (Beth 3). Free throws (Made-attempted): Sauk Prairie 12-16. Reedsburg 14-24. Total fouls: Sauk Prairie 17, Reedsburg N/A. Fouled out: Wipperfurth, Budd.

 Badger North girls
basketball Standings

                      W    L

Waunakee        1    0

DeForest          1    0   

Reedsburg        1    0

Mt. Horeb         0    0

Baraboo           0    1   

Portage            0    1

Sauk Prairie      0    1

Results

Nov. 25     —     Waunakee 48, Portage 25

                        DeForest 48, Baraboo 42

                        Reedsburg 43, Sauk Prairie 34