By MIKE KEMMETER
of The Gazette
Doctors and medical researchers may want to take a look at the Stevens Point Area Senior High girls basketball team.
All season long, the Panthers have been basketball magnets on defense and nothing was different last Friday in a 47-46 win over D.C. Everest.
Trailing by seven with six minutes left, SPASH closed the game with a 14-6 run, getting the job done on both offense and defense. The Panthers made a big stand on the defensive end to close the game, shutting down the Evergreens for the final 40 seconds. In that time, Everest got two shots, including Telia Midlikowski's 15-foot runner that bounced off the rim as time expired.
"We talk about defense a lot. But to have a pressure situation and they had 37 seconds and couldn't get a shot, that to me was the key to the game," SPASH coach Kraig Terpstra said.
"We really got tough there and were determined not to let them score. They got two runners, but they couldn't get anything set."
Rachel Kreuser was big in the clutch for SPASH on both the offensive and defensive ends.
With SPASH down by one, 46-45, the 6-0 junior's steal with 45 seconds left set up Emily Pliska's two pressure-packed free throws which gave the Panthers the lead for good. Then on the final defensive stand, Kreuser get her hands on Everest's first shot attempt.
"I was just playing my position. Everybody else put on the pressure," Kreuser said.
Kreuser's touch from the right baseline helped SPASH get back in the game. She hit a pair of 10-footers on consecutive possessions and pulled the Panthers within 40-39 with 4:39 remaining.
"Rachel just played with a lot of confidence at the end. She shot the ball with a lot of confidence," Terpstra said. "You knew they were going in."
Midlikowski put the Evergreens ahead by three again on their next possession, as she put back an Everest miss with 4:13 to go. The Panthers couldn't answer on the ensuing possession, but the defense did the job, as Steph Karaliunas batted a pass in the air and Pliska layed it in on the other end.
The two teams then traded baskets until Karaliunas stole another pass and was fouled on her lay-up attempt. The referees ruled she was not in the act of shooting and Karaliunas missed the front end of the bonus, setting up Kreuser's steal with 45 seconds left.
Everest held a 25-20 halftime lead after ending the second quarter with a 6-2 spurt. Hoops by Rachel Butalla, Audrey Klenner and Leah Cheyka upped the Evergreens advantage to seven, 25-18, with 1:10 remaining. Janel McCarville then got SPASH within five with a coast-to-coast layin at the buzzer. The 6-1 junior rebounded an Everest miss with about five seconds left and drove the length of the floor for the easy basket.
SPASH's stifling defense shut down the Evergreens for much of the third quarter, holding Everest scoreless for the first 6:38. While the defense did its job, the Panthers took a 28-25 lead, highlighted by Amber Lenze's 3-pointer from the right wing.
"I thought the second half we broke the seal a little bit (offensively)," Terpstra said. "The ball movement was better and I thought we shot the ball better."
Once Everest finally got on the board with a Cheyka free throw, the Evergreens finished the quarter with an 8-1 run to take a 34-29 advantage into the fourth quarter.
McCarville paced SPASH with 13 points and Karaliunas had 11. Everest didn't have anyone in double figures.