Guden breaks record
She becomes the top girl scorer in Edgar’s history
By Casey Krautkramer
Edgar senior guard Makenna Guden calmly sank a pair of free throws early in the second half of the Wildcats’ 52-39 win against archrival Marathon on Tuesday, to tie and then break her varsity assistant coach Holly (Denfeld) Nowak’s Edgar girls basketball career scoring record.
Makenna needed to score 24 points going into Tuesday’s home game against the Red Raiders to break (Denfeld) Nowak’s girls scoring mark of 1,258 career points, which she set in 2013. Makenna had already scored 18 points by halftime, to help Edgar take a commanding 32-9 halftime lead against Marathon.
With 10 minutes, 16 seconds left in the game, Makenna was fouled by a Marathon player and she made both her free throws for her 23rd and 24th points in the game. Referees paused the game for a few minutes to allow (Denfeld) Nowak to hug Makenna and give her the game ball, and Makenna’s parents Shawn and Cari Guden also gave her huge hugs at center court.
Makenna remained humble while discussing her huge school accomplishment after the game.
“It feels very good to break the school girls career scoring record, because I’ve worked very hard at basketball since I was a little kid to get to this point and it’s good to finally see all my hard work is paying off,” she said. “I couldn’t have broken the school record without my teammates, because obviously I can’t score without them giving me good passes.”
Holly (Denfeld) Nowak has been Makenna’s Edgar varsity girls assistant coach for the past few seasons. She was content with Makenna breaking her school career girls basketball scoring mark.
“I love to see hard working athletes shine and succeed the way Makenna does,” (Denfeld) Nowak said. “I’m just happy to be a part of the Edgar girls basketball program and see Makenna achieve all she’s been able to do, and especially this year. She was destined to shine from day one on the basketball court.” Makenna finished the game with 28 points. She only needs to score 14 points in her team’s game in Athens this Friday, Jan. 8, to also break Edgar’s alltime career scoring record among boys and girls basketball players. Larry Brown, who now lives in Eau Claire, currently holds Edgar’s alltime scoring record of 1,275 points he set in 1981.
Makenna became the first Edgar girls basketball player to already reach the 1,000-career point milestone as a junior last season in her team’s home playoff win against Plainfield Tri-County.
Marathon senior Allison Wokatsch led her team with 18 points in the loss to Edgar on Tuesday, while her senior teammate Anna Cleven adde 10 points.
Jada Prihoda paced the Red Raiders with six rebounds and Jenna Aschbrenner with three steals.
The Edgar varsity girls basketball team beat Oshkosh Lourdes, 72-40, on Thursday at home, as Guden led all scorers with 27 points.
The Marathon varsity girls basketball team lost, 53-43, at Adams-Friendship last Wednesday.
Edgar’s record is now at 3-2 in the Marawood South Conference and 6-4 overall this season, while Marathon is 1-3 in the conference and 3-7 overall.
Tigers tamed by Royals
Stratford’s girls basketball team lost a close home game, 45-43, to Wisconsin Rapids Assumption on Tuesday.
Lauren Kraus led the Tigers with 10 points, while Breanna Ackley and Emily Hughes added nine points each. Tanaya Schillinger contributed eight points.
Hughes paced Stratford with four steals and Makenna Leonhardt had two. Ackley led the team with a pair of blocked shots.
Stratford falls to 3-2 in the Marawood South Conference and 6-3 overall this season.
TOP TWO SCORERS- Edgar senior Makenna Guden (1) broke the school girl’s basketball career scoring mark on Tuesday set by her assistant coach, Holly (Denfeld) Nowak, standing next to her, in 2013.
BATTLING FOR THE LOOSE BALL- Marathon senior Hope Krautkramer falls onto the floor in pursuit of a loose basketball with Edgar players Karlin Lipinski (5) and Reagan Borchardt (3).STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER
