G-E-T battles past BRF to snap 16-game skid
For the first time in just over 11 months, the Gale-Ettrick-Trempealeau girls basketball team was able to enjoy a postgame celebration in the locker room.
The Red Hawks (1-13, 1-5 Coulee) ended a 16-game losing streak that dated back to last season, defeating conference foe Black River Falls on the road early this past week. That marked the first G-E-T victory since they won back-to-back games against Tomah and BRF in early February of last year.
This time around, the Red Hawks could not string together consecutive wins as they lost to the Luther Knights on the road at the end of the week.
Following a run of road games, G-E-T has three straight contests at home next on the schedule: vs. Westby Thursday at 7 p.m., vs. Whitehall Saturday at 6:30 p.m. and Tuesday vs. Cashton at 7:15 p.m.
“I hope the girls saw that they can win and that more wins will be coming. From the start of the season the girls are getting more aggressive on both ends of the floor,” said G-E-T head coach John Schmidtknecht. “Each week we keep improving and pushing harder and harder. Our big goal all season is to cut turnovers down each game, which is getting much better since the start of the season. I think this will continue to improve as the season continues.”
G-E-T 55 BRF 52
Getting into mid-January of a basketball season without a win can be a demoralizing experience for a team. Rather than succumb to that sort of frustration, the Red Hawks kept plugging away until they could shake that monkey off their back.
G-E-T went on the road and came away with a cathartic victory over the Tigers (1-11, 0-6) last Tuesday in Black River Falls to end their losing skid.
Though the Red Hawks fell behind in the first half, they remained undeterred and ended the half on a little run to slice the BRF lead to 29-27 going into the locker room. G-E-T kept the positive momentum rolling along to start the second half, leapfrogging ahead and eventually building up a 10-point lead of their own.
That coveted first win did not come easily down the stretch, as one might expect, as Red Hawks turnovers aided in the Tigers’ attempt to whittle away at their deficit. BRF eventually got it down to 54-52 and had possession of the ball with a chance to tie or take the lead with about 30 seconds remaining.
A missed shot was rebounded by the Red Hawks — Schmidtknecht pointed to G-E-T utilizing their size to get rebounds and limit second-chance opportunities as a big key in the win — and sophomore Claire Baures was fouled and sent to the line.
Baures split her free throws in the final seconds, which kept it a one-score game, but the Tigers were unable to hit a miraculous three to tie it.
“This was a big boost for our team,” Schmidtknecht said. “We talk a lot about how we can compete with a lot of teams; we just needed to get this first win. By getting the first win, we have confidence going forward knowing we can do it and more wins will come.”
G-E-T was led by senior Lexi James with 14 points, sophomores Alexis Ouellette and Kennedy Scow with eight points apiece and the sophomore duo of Ruby Johnson and Caydie Thompson with six points each.
Sophomore Olivia Larkin scored a game-high 16 points and freshman Gianna Backaus added nine points for the Tigers in the loss.
Luther 69 G-E-T 32
The Red Hawks were unable to conjure up any magic for an upset win against the Knights (7-6, 3-2), who convincingly defended their home court this past Friday in Onalaska.
Ouellette tallied 17 points and Thompson tacked on six of her own in the defeat. A victorious Luther was led by sophomore Cara Unke with 24 points and fellow sophomore Natalie Hackbarth with 10 points.
