When you get to the Regional championship game what fans have come to expect more often than not is a shootout.
But the packed house at Shullsburg Saturday got anything but that. What they got was the type of game where you could almost order a pizza and have it delivered between points.
31-18 was the final score. Those were all the points scored in two 18 minute frames that determined which Six Rivers conference teams would move on to the WIAA Division 5 Sectionals.
When it comes to defense both Barneveld and Shullsburg know how to play it better than most. This time it was Barneveld’s girls squad that played it better. The Golden Eagles used their match up zone to cover the Miners and take their scoring threats out of the game.
The Eagles took Mckinley Russell completely out of the game, holding the Miners inside threat scoreless. Their other ace, Hailey Alt, was held to five points and she did not get a sniff until the second half.
The Eagles disrupted the Miners, causing them to miscue 16 times.
The closest the Miners got was when they pulled within two at 11:55 the second half when Hailey Alt scored her five points and Alexis Alt put up a two pointer in the lane to make it 18-16.
Hannah Esch made the first of two free throw attempts to create some distance then Izzy Durst took over the game and sent the Eagles to the Sectionals.
Durst, who scored 17 points, one less than the entire Shullsburg team, drilled a WNBA three pointer then put in a pair of free throws before adding a basket on a drive to push the margin to 26-16.
Shullsburg then netted their last basket of the game on a drive by Alexis Alt who finished her senior season with five points.
Erin Lasse put in a free throw before Durst closed it out with a pair of tossed and a basket from inside.
Barneveld was more efficient taking care of the basketball with only five turnovers. Both teams only had four players score.
The obvious difference when it came to personnel was Durst. The Eagle senior and Division II UW- Parkside recruit was unstoppable when it came to running the show, getting the ball to the open teammate and taking care of the basketball.
“Izzy played a great floor game,” Eagles coach Jim Myers said.
Myers also credited Lasse with playing one of her best games of the season.
“Our posts worked their tails off and Eliza Gordon and Hannah Esch really did a job on Russell,” Myers said.
But in the end it was the defense that determined the outcome.
“Our kids played great and it was a defensive battle on both sides,” Myers said “Holding Russell scoreless and Alt to five was the key for us. We made enough down the stretch to win.”
Myers, who returned to the sidelines last year and led the Eagles to the State Tournament, has them on the right track again this season. They will face Argyle/Pecatonica tonight to open Division 5 Sectionals play. The two team split in the regular season.
“That should be a fun one,” Myers predicts.
The game will be played at a neutral site.
SCORE BY HALVES
Barneveld 15 16 31 Shullsburg 8 10 18
BOX SCORE
BARNEVELD 31: (fg-ft-tp) Gordon 0-0-0, Lasse 2-1-5, M. Norton 0- 0-0, Esch 1-1-4, A. Norton 2-0-5, Oimoen 0-0-0, Durst 5-5-17. Totals 10-7/9-31 Fouls-9
SHULLSBURG 18: H. Alt 1-2-5, I. Wiegel 0-0-0, Thyen 2-2-6. Russell 0-0-0, Woodworth 1-0-2, A. Alt 2-1- 5, M. Wiegel 0-0-0. Totals 6-5/6-18. Fouls-12
3 point goals:
B-Durst 2, A. Norton 1, Esch 1 S-H. Alt 1
