Indee girls close with convincing wins

The Independence/Gilmanton girls basketball team appears to have hit its stride right as tournament play begins.

The Indees came away with two lopsided wins last week, beating Whitehall, 62-42, on Monday and Alma Center Lincoln, 83-57, on Thursday. Those victories made it six straight wins for the Indees, who have won 15 of their last 17 games.

The win over AC Lincoln was the 400th of Coach John Zilla’s career. He is the first girls basketball coach from Trempealeau County to reach the 400-win mark. Senior Arabelle Kniseley is also close to a notable achievement as she has 998 career points. 

I/G takes a 19-5 overall record into the playoffs and finished 15-5 in Dairyland Conference play, behind only undefeated Eleva-Strum in the Large Division. The Indees earned the top seed in their Division Five regional bracket and will play the winner of the game between (9) Brookwood and (8) Hillsboro on Friday. The regional final game is set for Saturday with the highest seed hosting.

Tournament play continues next Thursday with the sectional semifinal game before the sectional final is played on Saturday. 

I/G 62 Whitehall 42

The Indees overcame a slow start before halftime and gradually pulled away in the second half.

Whitehall started the game with a 10-4 run, but I/G chipped away before taking the lead on a basket by Arabelle Kniseley midway through the half. The teams exchanged baskets for a bit as I/G held a 21-20 lead before Nora Schank scored five straight. The Indees took a 30-22 advantage into halftime.

I/G went ahead by double-digits early in the second half and saw the lead grow to 12 on a three-pointer by Kniseley with 13:30 remaining. The Norse got the advantage back down to 10 but the Indees responded with a 9-2 run.

The Indees held Whitehall to 25.5% shooting from the floor and forced 30 turnovers. Kniseley scored 19 points to lead I/G while Rielynn Sheahan added 12 and Nora Schank finished with 11. Paige Lisowski scored 20 points for Whitehall. 

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 1/9-0/0-1-0-2 Kniseley 7/14-4/7-6-4-19 Sheahan 4/11-2/2-5-3-12 Schank 4/6-2/4-8-4-11 Ekern 0/7-0/0-3-3-0 Dejno 4/6-1/3-4-1-9 Kampa 2/6-0/0-1-3-4 Sylla 1/2-1/2-3-1-3 Olson 1/1-0/0-0-0-2

Whitehall (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kulig 0/1-0/0-3-2-0 Lisowski 7/17-3/4-7-1-20 Herman 0/2-0/1-4-1-0 Laurila 0/6-0/0-1-0-0 Lambeck 3/12-2/2-3-1-9 Ausderau 2/7-2/3-9-3-6 Klomsten 0/5-0/0-0-2-0 Edge 0/2-1/2-3-0-1 Fonstad 0/0-0/1-1-1-0 Waldera 2/3-2/2-6-3-6

I/G 83 AC Lincoln 57

The Indees got going offensively at the end of the first half and didn’t slow down.

I/G scored 14 points in the last five minutes of the half as Anna Kent gave the team the lead with a three-pointer to start the run. The Hornets tied the game at 27, but I/G got consecutive baskets from Kniseley, Sylla and Sheahan. Kniseley then scored off of a steal to give her team a 35-27 advantage. The Indees took a 38-32 lead into halftime.

The teams exchanged baskets early in the second half, but Kent gave I/G some more breathing room with a three-pointer that put them ahead 52-41. That was part of a 9-2 run that helped the Indees take complete control.

I/G shot 45.9% from the floor and made eight three-pointers. Kniseley led the team with 18 points while Sheahan added 13 and Shauna Dejno scored 11.

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 3/4-0/0-3-1-9 Kniseley 8/16-0/0-8-2-18 Sheahan 4/12-3/6-4-2-13 Schank 1/5-1/2-6-4-3 Ekern 3/10-0/0-5-4-7 Gruber 0/2-0/0-3-0-0 Dejno 5/7-1/2-5-1-11 C. Kampa 4/4-0/0-1-2-8 Sylla 4/8-0/0-3-0-8 Olson 0/3-2/2-0-0-2 K. Kampa 2/3-0/0-0-1-4