Indees blow by Eagles, Pirates

The Independence/Gilmanton girls basketball team had little trouble in Buffalo County last week, winning two games by more than 20 points.

The Indees went on a big run to close the first half of a 69-37 win over Pepin/Alma on Tuesday. On Thursday, the team came out of halftime on fire and pulled away from Cochrane-Fountain City, 68-45.

The wins put the Indees at 17-5 overall and 13-5 in Dairyland Conference play. The team closed out the regular season with games on Monday and Thursday this week, hosting Whitehall before playing at Alma Center Lincoln. 

I/G earned the top seed in its Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association Division Five bracket and will open its tournament against the winner of the game between (9) Brookwood and (8) Hillsboro next Friday. The regional final game will be played on Saturday with the highest seed hosting. 

I/G 69 Pepin/Alma 37

A pair of three-pointers got the Indees going, sparking an 18-4 run to close the first half.

The Indees were ahead for most of the game and held a 21-14 lead before Arabelle Kniseley hit a three with 7:30 remaining in the first half. Hannah Ekern connected from downtown a minute later then scored again after a Hadley Sylla basket, making the score 31-14. 

Anna Kent connected on a three-pointer that put I/G ahead 35-16 with three minutes left in the first half. Kent added a basket off of a steal before Shauna Dejno scored to give the Indees a 39-18 lead at halftime.

The three first-half three-pointers were the only three I/G made in the game, but the team still shot 42.5% from the field. Kniseley led the way with 13 points while Sylla had 12 and Kent finished with 11. Kent registered a double-double in the game as she also had 11 steals. 

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 5/14-0/0-5-2-11 Kniseley 6/16-0/0-6-1-13 Sheahan 3/9-2/4-7-2-8 Schank 2/3-0/0-5-1-4 Ekern 3/6-0/1-3-3-7 Gruber 0/2-0/0-0-1-0 Dejno 4/8-1/2-2-3-9 Kampa 2/5-0/0-5-0-4 Sylla 6/8-0/0-5-0-12 Olson 0/2-1/2-2-1-1 

I/G 68 C-FC 45

The Indees went on a 21-2 run to start the second half and never looked back.

I/G had a three-point lead at halftime and cranked up the defensive pressure in the second half. The Pirates had a difficult time getting the ball past the half-court line as the Indees came away with several steals. I/G finished the game with 27 steals and 38 points off of turnovers in the game.

I/G got some breathing room early after baskets by Dejno and Rielynn Sheahan. After a couple of free throws and a basket by Kniseley, Hannah Ekern knocked down a three to put the Indees ahead 39-12 with 12 minutes to play. 

The run continued with baskets by Kniseley, Sylla, Schank, and Dejno, while Ekern added a couple of free throws as the Indees went ahead 49-27.

Sylla was perfect from the field as she led I/G with 17 points. Sheahan added 14, Dejno finished with 11 and Kniseley scored 10.

I/G (field goals/attempts-free throws/attempts-rebounds-fouls-points) — Kent 2/8-0/0-3-1-5 Kniseley 5/12-0/0-6-4-10 Sheahan 4/14-5/6-3-0-14 Schank 1/4-1/2-2-3-3 Ekern 1/3-5/6-2-1-8 Gruber 0/0-0/0-1-0-0 Dejno 5/9-1/2-4-2-11 Kampa 0/2-0/0-0-4-0 Sylla 7/7-3/7-3-5-17 Olson 0/0-0/0-0-1-0