Cadott falls to the Thunder, steals one from the Norse

Senior Emma Kowalczyk sent up a soft floater for her Cadott team, as they hosted non-conference opponent Whitehall, for a win Jan. 8. Photo by Ginna Young

By Ginna Young

It’s a new year, new focus for the Cadott girls basketball squad, as they jumped back into the competition, taking on two tough teams.

Jan. 4 vs. Osseo-Fairchild conference (L 70-63)

Coming back from the holiday break, the Hornets were on the road against conference opponent Osseo-Fairchild, for what turned into a fight for control of the scoreboard.

“We played a hard-fought game on Thursday,” said coach Dave Hazuga.

The Hornets went into halftime down by four points, but continued to stick close to the Thunder in the second half of the game.

“We had a nice stretch, to make a strong surge in the second half, we came up a little short,” said Hazuga.

Cadott watched the match go to the home team, 70-63. Senior Emma Kowalczyk led for the Hornets, with 16 points, with junior Kasey Moldrem right behind, for 15. Sophomore Taylor Hager came next, with 13 points, followed by sophomore Kennedy Nerdrum, with 12.

Senior Bradee Burish and sophomore Lilly Spaeth each added 3 points, while sophomore Danielle Sikora chipped in with a free throw.

“Our offense is progressing as a team, we’re doing a lot of good things,” said Hazuga. “We will continue to improve.”

Jan. 8 vs. Whitehall non-conference (W 58-46)

After the weekend off, Cadott saw Whitehall come to town for a non-conference match that would go down to the wire. Despite a six-point lead at halftime, the Norse would come back to make the Hornets sweat whether or not they would come up with the win.

“It was a tough game, they have a nice team and the game was very physical,” said Hazuga.

Finally, with about three minutes left in the match, Cadott started to knock down some big shots and pulled away to claim a 58-46 victory.

“We put together a pretty consistent game with our defensive possessions,” said Hazuga.

Hager notched four shots from long-range on the night, ending with 24 points. Moldrem also came up big on three-pointers, knocking down three of them for 9 points, while Kowalczyk also added 9 points. Nerdrum came away with 6 points, followed by Sikora, with 4.

Junior Tarynn Donahue shot a three-pointer, while Burish chipped in with 2 points and Spaeth connected on a free throw.

Cadott’s record is now 7-6 on the season and 1-5 in the league.