Arcadia sees four-game win streak snapped with loss to Luther


            Arcadia's Kaitlyn Bremer went up for a shot as she was defended closely by Luther's Kayla Schiebel last Thursday in Onalaska. (Times photograph by Zach Rastall)

Riding a season-high four-game winning streak, the Arcadia girls basketball team were in solid form heading into a benchmark game against Onalaska Luther.

While the Raider defense showed a high level of play in the first half against the Knights, the offense’s turnover issues loomed large as Luther pulled away in the second half to complete their season sweep of Arcadia.

Earlier in the week, the Raiders eked out a win against Cochrane-Fountain City in non-conference play.

Arcadia (11-7, 6-3 Coulee) next gets a tough road test against Coulee leader West Salem on Thursday at 7 p.m. then hosts Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau for a rivalry clash next Tuesday at 5:45 p.m.

Arcadia 56 C-FC 50

A well-balanced scoring attack helped fuel the Raiders to a six-point win over the Pirates (10-7) last Monday at the Wanek Center.

The Arcadia defense kept C-FC in check during the first half, allowing just 19 points en route to a six-point halftime advantage. Both teams had a bit more success on offense in the second half, though the Raiders did enough to stave off the Dairyland Small Conference leaders.

The balanced Arcadia scoring effort was headlined by Justine Sonsalla and Tatum Drazkowski with 13 points each and Joselyn Lockington with 12. Amaya Schlesser added nine points and Madison Grotjahn chipped in seven as well. Drazkowski pulled in 14 rebounds for a double-double.

For the Pirates, Ana Knecht and Kaelyn Comero each scored 11 points in the defeat.

Luther 46 Arcadia 32

For the first 18 minutes of the Coulee showdown between Arcadia and Luther (14-3, 8-1) last Thursday in Onalaska, the game was a defensive rock fight where the Raiders were more than holding their own.

However, a rash of turnovers ultimately plagued the Raiders in the second half and doomed their hopes of notching a marquee conference win.

Arcadia came out of the gates strong to seize an 8-2 lead in the opening minutes of the game before things settled into a defensive slugfest where nearly every possession was a chore to get a quality look. Those intense opening 18 minutes resulted in a 14-12 halftime lead for the Raiders.

That same script did not play out in the second half. Luther’s relentless on-ball pressure caused a slew of Arcadia turnovers while the Knights started to get hot and hit a bunch of jumpers to pull ahead and eventually go up by double digits.

Once Luther had control, the Raiders didn’t have enough on offense to mount a comeback and the number of possessions where they weren’t able to get a shot of any kind off added up as the second half wore on.

Drazkowski led all scorers with 17 points and Lockington added nine to the scoring ledger, though no other Arcadia player scored more than four on the evening. Luther’s Cara Unke tallied 12 points in the victory.

“We had some shot makers turn down looks today. We had some very aggressive people be less aggressive because they were worried about the pressure,” said Arcadia head coach Evan Pagel. “We’re going to see some other giants down the road. Programs that have success. We have to hold ourselves to thinking we’re on the level of them and not be worried about the intensity they bring.”

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