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The ending of the game was anything but what the Mineral Point girls had dreamed of.
In fact, it was likely about as close to a nightmare as they could get.
When Emily Mitchell scored with 30 seconds to go, the Pointers found themselves up one and seemed to have a bit of momentum on their side. And after a Pardeeville player dribbled the ball off her foot and out of bounds, all the Pointers had to do was hang on to the ball and wait to get fouled. But they couldn't do it, and Alyssa Kuhl got loose for the game winning shot for the visiting Bulldogs as they pulled off a road upset 49-48 to open WIAA Division Four Regional play Tuesday night.
The Pointers got off to a hot start, bolting out to an early 16-8 first quarter lead that featured a 12-2 run, seven from Hannah Lawinger and five from Emily Mitchell.
The Bulldogs outscored the Pointers slightly in the second quarter. Mitchell connected on an old-fashioned three point play with 1:05 to go, but Pardeeville closed with buckets by Amber Becker and Morgan Jerome to crawl within 30-24 at the break.
The teams played even up in the third quarter, but the Pointers missed all six of their free throw opportunities in the period, yet still held a 39-33 lead with one quarter remaining.
About halfway through the fourth quarter, starting point guard Lawinger picked up her fifth foul and was forced to exit the game. The Bulldogs took advantage of her absence and mounted an 11-0 run to take the lead at 45-43 on a hoop from Morgan Deakin at the 2:39 mark. Goninen followed with a jumper from the baseline, but was quickly answered by a shot from Kuhl. Goninen hit the first of two free throws to pull within one at 47-46, and Mitchell followed to give the Pointers the slim lead. Kuhl's shot to go up by one was all the breathing room Pardeeville would need in the long run.
Free throw woes plagued the Pointers all night, making just 9 of 24 attempts, although the Bulldogs weren't much better at 5 of 15.
Jerome led all scorers with her 26 point performance.
Lawinger was the highest scoring Pointer with 17. Goninen and Mitchell joined her in double digits with 11 and 10 each, respectively.
"Offensively we didn't take care of the ball well," said Pointer coach Mitch Wainwright. "We tried to force things, and it was almost like we were the team that was playing from behind. When Hannah got her 5th foul, it really limited what we could do. We were missing that senior leadership and the ability to score from anywhere on the floor. It seemed like the last three or four possessions, no one wanted the ball--no one wanted to be the one to take the shot."
"Our defense was really good for the first three quarters. We knew that Jerome was going to be their top scorer, but it was a bit ironic that she got all but two of her points in the first three quarters, when we had the lead, but in the fourth it was Kuhl who we couldn't stop. It just seemed like instead of playing to win, we were playing not to lose."
"This is a tough way to say goodbye to our seniors. They are a great group that made coming to practice fun. We really wanted this first win at home, and it's heartbreaking to end like this. All of them will be missed," concluded the coach.
Mineral Point concludes its season at 10-13 while Pardeeville improves to 11-12 and advances to face top seed Cuba City in the regional semifinals Friday night.
SCORE BY QUARTERS
P: 8-16-9-16--49
MP: 16-14-9- 9--48
BOX SCORE
PARDEEVILLE (fg-ft-tp) 49: Becker 2-0-4, Hauge 1-2/6-4, Kuhl 3-1/4-8, Jerome 12-1/1-26, Werner 2-1/2-5, M. Deakin 1-0/2-2. Totals: 21-5/15-49. Fouls: 20. Three pointers: Jerome 1, Kuhl 1.
MINERAL POINT 48: Lawinger 6-5/9-17, C. Graber 1-0-2, Qualley 2-0-6, Mitchell 4-1/6-10, Goninen 4-3/8-11, L. Graber 1-0/1-2. Totals: 18-9/24-48. Fouls: 16. Fouled out: Lawinger. Three pointers: Qualley 2, Mitchell 1.