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The ball just wouldn't go down at the end.
That was the fate of the Dodgeville girls basketball team Monday night in a heartbreaking 58-54 loss to visiting Monona Grove.
"The positive is that it was a much better game than last year. It shows we've improved," said Dodger coach Josh Busch.
The Dodgers started slow and trailed 17-10 after the first quarter, but stayed almost right there down 34-26 by halftime.
"We didn't play with a lot of energy in the first half," Busch said.
The Dodgers stepped it up in period three and held a 10-9 edge and outscored the Silver Eagles 18-15 down the stretch.
They cut Monona Grove's lead to one twice in the final frame, but couldn't get that hoop to take the lead. They even had two shots nearly go down, but rim out.
On the night, a pair of sophomores for the Silver Eagles were the Dodgers' nemesis. Taylor Nelson hit 16 points with Alexa Kelsey adding 15. Nine of Kelsey's markers came in the fourth frame, including a pair of clutch three pointers.
Dodger senior Rachel Pope hit a game-high 17 points with freshman Taylor Stanek adding 13., including nine in the fourth quarter.
"We attacked and finished much better in the second half and did a great job getting into position to get the looks we got," Busch pointed out.
"Taylor is very athletic and did a nice job hitting some key shots and free throws plus a great job defending," Busch said about his freshman. Two of her free throws brought the Dodgers to within one the final time.
Busch added that sophomore Brooke Lee "did a nice job giving minutes in the middle in the second half" and that "Rachel and the rest of the seniors were the leaders out there and the rest followed."
SCORE BY QUARTERS
Monona Grove 17 17 9 15-58
Dodgeville 10 16 10 18-54
BOX SCORE
Monona Grove 68 (fg, ft, tp) Clary 1-0-2, Calhoun 2-0-4, Anderson 2-0-4, Kelsey 5-2/4-15, Werner 4-3/6-13, Long 2-0-4, Nelson 5-6/11-16. Totals 21-11/21-58. F-20. FO-Long. 3-pointers: Werner 2, Kelsey 3.
Dodgeville 54: Stanek 4-4/4-13, Pope 5-6/7-17, Crowley 1-3/6-5, Ley 0-1/2-1, Neil 0-0-0, Bakker 0-3/4-3, McConnell 4-1/3-9, Lee 2-0-4, Dalsing 0-0-0, Zoet 0-2/2-2. Totals 16-20/28-54. F-18. FO-Stanek. 3-pointers: Stanek, Pope.
JV-Dodgeville 58 Monona Grove 18.
The Dodgers are off until December 15 when they travel to Prairie du Chien.