‘Jays keep on rolling

Athens girls still ranked fifth in D-5

By Casey Krautkramer

Athens senior guard Addyson Zettler created the team’s motto, “It takes a cool head to win a hot game” after a home loss to Phillips over a month ago. The Bluejays haven’t lost since then.

Kyncaide Keefe, Athens girls basketball coach, wrote out Zettler’s motto for the team to follow.

“I think the loss against Phillips happened because mentally we just weren’t into the game,” Diedrich said. “We got hot headed and we didn’t control things we could control on the basketball court. Our players are very emotional in some games, like they will complain when they feel they got fouled. Those are the things we are trying to eliminate because it’s just wasted energy. We will play Phillips again and this time our team will be cool headed.”

It just so happens Athens’ only loss this season is to Phillips. Athens and Phillips currently both have one loss in the Marawood North Conference standings, however Athens has not yet played its one game against Marawood South Conference leader Wisconsin Rapids Assumption. Phillips’ lone conference loss is to Assumption in their only matchup this season. It’s also the only blemish in the Loggers’ overall season schedule thus far.

In the meantime, Athens just keeps easily winning its games. Sophia Coker, junior post player, said it was nice to dominate Marathon, 51-34, in Friday’s road game because the Bluejays only beat the Red Raiders by one point in each of her first two seasons on the varsity team.

“We are practicing hard and playing hard in games to get ready for our tougher opponents like Phillips in the future,” Sophia Coker said. “We want to badly win the Marawood North Conference championship but we’ll need to play our best basketball against Phillips next time.”

Athens has pivotal two upcoming straight conference games against Assumption on Thursday, February 2, at home and against Phillips on Tuesday, February 7, on the road. Assumption is undefeated in the Marawood South Conference and its lone season defeat is to unbeaten Neillsville.

Sophia Coker believes her team will be fine as long as they continue buying into the motto that Zettler created.

“It takes a cool head to win a hot game,” Sophia Coker reiterated after Friday’s win against Marathon. Athens remains ranked fifth in Division 5 this week with a 16-1 overall record this season.

The Bluejays raced out to a 29-12 halftime lead against the Red Raiders on Friday. The Bluejays then held on for the 51-34 victory.

Athens senior guard Celina Ellenbecker made seven of 10 field goals, including five of six three-point shots, to score a game-high 19 points against the Red Raiders. Junior guard Addison Lavicka added 16 points. Sophia Coker and junior Jazelle Hartwig contributed seven points apiece. Sophia Coker paced Athens with six rebounds and she tied Hartwig for team lead in steals with five each. Hartwig led the Bluejays with five assists and Lavicka had four.

Marathon senior guard Kali Prihoda led her team with 13 points and four steals against Athens. Senior guard Ashley Phakitthong paced the Red Raiders with 10 rebounds and she added nine points. Freshman Emma Love led the team with three assists.

Jeff Schneider, Marathon girls basketball coach, described after the loss what makes Athens such a tough team to beat. Marathon had just beaten a tough Edgar squad in its previous game.

“Athens and Edgar are two different types of teams,” Schneider said. “Obviously Edgar has some good kids and it is a nice team but the Athens players are just so long and athletic. Athens has four kids who are 5-11 or taller and most Division 1 and 2 girl teams don’t even have that. I give Athens credit because probably one of the things it doesn’t do well is shoot three pointers and then against us Lavicka hits two three pointers and Celina Ellenbecker makes five of them.”

Schneider was disappointed his Marathon squad didn’t do a better job handling Athens’ 1-3-1 zone defense.

“I’ll be honest they play an all-ornothing game,” he said. “They score three quarters of their points off turnovers so if you can handle the ball, take care of it and get good looks then you have a shot. I am disappointed because we definitely didn’t show very good discipline or very good fundamentals a lot of the game. I wish we could’ve done better and I take personal responsibility for that.”

There was a sea of Athens fans clad in blue on the entire one side of the bleachers in Marathon. Sophia Coker spoke about how the team’s tremendous fan support helps it succeed on the basketball court.

“Having a good fan section behind us is so huge; we love our fans,” she said. “We talk about it before every game that we wouldn’t be here without our fans and we are so thankful for them.”

Coach Keefe said it’s a luxury to have a strong cohesive team on the court thanks to the team’s four junior players.

“A lot of people talk about having that family mentality but they can read each other like a book just because of the time they’ve spent together,” she said. “Those four juniors including Sophia and Sydney Coker, Addison Lavicka and Jazelle Hartwig have spent time playing with each other since they were six years old.”

Marathon rebounded from Friday’s loss to Athens by beating Newman Catholic, 55-50, on Monday in Wausau.

Senior Ashley Phakitthong led the Red Raiders with 20 points, eight rebounds and two steals. Freshman Emma Love added 14 points in the victory against the Cardinals. Senior Chloe LaValley paced Marathon with five assists.

Sophomore Kyla Heise contributed seven rebounds while senior Kali Prihoda had six and Love added five.

Marathon currently has a 5-6 record in the Marawood South Conference and is 8-9 overall this season.

Wildcats win two straight

Edgar’s varsity girls basketball team rebounded from a home loss to Marathon in its previous game by easily beating Abbotsford, 76 50, on Friday at home. Senior Reagan Borchardt led Edgar with 26 points and three blocks, while senior Leah Davis added 21 points in the win. Senior Morgan Schnelle and junior Makayla Wirkus paced the Wildcats with four assists each. Wirkus added two blocks. Borchardt and Schnelle led the team with three steals apiece. Edgar defeated Loyal, 48-37, in Monday’s non-conference game. Borchardt achieved a doubledouble with 23 points and 21 rebounds. She also blocked three shots against the Greyhounds. Wirkus added nine points and she paced the Wildcats with four assists. Borchardt, Davis and Wirkus led Edgar with two steals each.

The Wildcats currently have a 7-3 record in the Marawood South Conference and are 12-4 overall this season.

Tigers split pair of games

Stratford’s varsity girls basketball team lost to a tough Phillips squad, 63-47, on Friday at home. Tigers senior center Lauren Kraus enjoyed a solid overall game with 19 points, 15 rebounds, six steals, three assists and a block. Senior guard Lexie Christopherson added 15 points. Junior forward Ashley Hollatz contributed eight rebounds.

The Tigers rebounded from Friday’s loss to win Monday’s non-conference home game against Colby, 48-40. Kraus had another huge game with 25 points, nine rebounds and three blocks. Senior Bailey Linzmaier added 12 points and seven rebounds. Linzmaier paced the Tigers with four assists and she tied with Hollatz for the team lead in steals with three apiece.

Stratford currently has a 3-6 record in the Marawood South Conference and is 8-8 overall this season.

“It takes a cool head to win a hot game.” Sophia Coker Athens junior

Celina Ellenbecker

AGGRESSIVE DRIVE TO THE BASKET- Edgar senior guard Morgan Schnelle on Friday drives past an Abbotsford defender in the first half of her team’s 76-50 home win.STAFF PHOTO/CASEY KRAUTKRAMER

Reagan Borchardt