By GENE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
A successful season for the Rosholt High School girls basketball team came to end Friday, March 1, at Waupaca, as the Hornets lost to Laconia High School in Rosendale, 37-34, in the Division 3 sectionals.
"It's too bad," said Rosholt coach Greg Vosz. "But I can't credit the girls enough. Even when they were down, they didn't quit. You have to give them a lot of credit."
As the score indicates, the game was a barn-burner, as the teams traded baskets, then one team would jump out to a lead before the other team battled back to take the lead.
The first quarter ended with the score knotted at 11-11, and then Rosholt scored the first three baskets of the second quarter to go ahead, 17-11, with about five minutes left in the first half.
Back came Laconia, knotting the score with two minutes left and then taking a 19-17 lead with 24.1 seconds left in the half.
After Laconia scored to start the third quarter, Emily Steines responded to bring the score to 21-19 in Laconia's favor with 7:07 left.
Then Rosholt went cold, not scoring again until Tami Scott hit a three-point shot just before the buzzer ending the quarter. By that time, Laconia had scored 12 points and held an apparently commanding 33-22 lead.
But Rosholt roared back on two baskets by Scott and two baskets and a free throw by Steines to cut the deficit to 33-31 with 4:46 left.
When the Hornets got the ball back, Tasha Check hit a three-pointer with 4:11 left, returning the lead to Rosholt for the first time since the second quarter, 34-33.
Laconia appeared rattled by Rosholt's charge into the lead and immediately threw the ball away on an inbounds pass, but the Hornets couldn't take advantage of the turnover.
Laconia regained the lead, 35-34, with 2:57 left, and then both teams failed to take advantage of missed shots and turnovers down the stretch.
Two Laconia free throws with 18.3 seconds left widened the lead to 37-34, and Rosholt set up a three-point shot to tie the score.
That attempt was partially blocked, and then Kate Flick grabbed the ball after a Laconia player rebounded it with 7.6 seconds left.
The possession arrow gave the ball to Rosholt, and the Hornets set up for another three-pointer.
With time running out, Scott put up a shot from behind the three-point arc and the ball hit the rim, bounced up onto the backboard and caromed to the front of the basket as the buzzer ending the game sounded.
"The kids played hard," Vosz said. "We dug ourselves a hole in the third quarter, but we tightened it up and they got the final score."
Laconia, a team with height to match Rosholt's, plugged the middle, forcing the Hornets to take outside shots. "We've seen that all season," Vosz said, noting that the team overcame that situation before.
"I have to give these kids a lot of praise," he said. "They've been playing varsity ball three or four years. I'm glad I had the opportunity to coach them."
The loss was only the second of the season for Rosholt, which finished with a 22-2 record. The only other blemish on the Hornets' record was a 47-35 loss to Tri-County on Jan. 22.
Steines led the Hornets in scoring with 15 points while Scott had nine.