Hornets blows by rival Orioles, split next two games

The Cadott girls basketball program saw a three-game home stand heading into the holiday season, taking on two, tough conference opponents, before getting a change of pace with an out-of-conference match-up.

Dec. 10 vs. Stanley-Boyd conference (W 52-41)

Cadott rode last week’s winning streak into a home game against Stanley-Boyd, coming out the victor. The Hornets took a 14-point lead into halftime, which was needed, as Stanley-Boyd came storming back to score 28 points in the second half.

“We were able to maintain consistency…came out in the second half with good energy,” said coach Dave Hazuga. “We played 10 players and got great sparks from everywhere.”

Cadott saw a season high in assists, with most of the buckets coming from what Hazuga calls excellent passing. The Hornets were relentless and took the game from their rivals, 52-41.

“Stanley has some good young players, we had to rebound and fight hard the whole game,” said Hazuga.

Sophomore Jada Kowalczyk racked up 21 points on the night, including two, three-pointers. Junior Meadow Barone added 13 points, with senior Autumn Bremness pitching in with 9.

Freshman Elly Eiler notched 6 points, junior Hailey Wellner recorded 2 and freshman Lauryn Goettl shot a free throw to add 1 point to the mix.

Dec. 13 vs. Osseo-Fairchild conference (L 55-35)

In their second home game of the week, Cadott hosted Osseo-Fairchild, but despite home court advantage, the Hornets couldn’t pull out a win.

“We got off to a pretty slow start, took us a while to reach their level of physicality,” said Hazuga.

Osseo-Fairchild scored 31 points in the first half to Cadott’s eight. Cadott gathered their focus and attacked in the latter half of the game, tripling what they scored before halftime.

“I thought we responded and played harder in the second half,” said Hazuga. “We didn’t shoot real well and we still had a nice push in the second half.”

The shooting put the Hornets behind enough that they couldn’t catch up before time ran out, leaving Osseo-Fairchild to claim a 55-35 victory.

Kowalczyk again led with 13 points, while Barone had 6 and junior McKenzie Prokupek added 5. Bremness ended the night with 4 points and Wellner had 3, which came from a three-point shot.

Eiler and fellow freshman Laken Ryan rounded things out with 2 points.

“We are committed to learning and getting better,” said Hazuga. “Games like this just help show us what we need to focus on.”

Dec. 16 vs. Chetek-Weyerhaeuser non-conference (W 38-31) Stepping out of the conference, Cadott took on Chetek-Weyerhaeuser, with both teams evenly matched on the scoreboard. Cadott got in foul trouble, but fought for rebounds, which helped level the playing field.

“It was a tough fight game, they are a scrappy team…” said Hazuga.

The Hornets made some big shots down the stretch, with senior Abby Eiler and Prokupek breaking free for a couple of three-pointers Hazuga says they were due for. With the boost, Cadott came away with a 38-31 home win.

Kowalczyk led with 16 points, Prokupek had 8 and Barone ended with 7. Also in the scorers’ column, A. Eiler had 6 and E. Eiler chipped in with 1 point.

Cadott’s record now improves to 5-2 overall and 2-1 in the conference.

“We have different players continue to step into big situations,” said Hazuga. “It’s a fun thing and a fun team.”