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Barneveld coach Doug Pickarts knew with D1 Nebraska recruit Hannah Whitish out of the lineup he needed some girls to step up if they wanted to win their own Candy Cane Classic basketball tournament Wednesday against Platteville.
He found his answer as Mia Whitish hit 17 of her game high 20 points in the first half and Mattie Schave popped in all of her nine at the same time to propel them to a 31-21 advantage at the intermission.
Then his daughter, Teegan, came through in the second half with 15 of her 16 to help them stave off a late Lady Hillmen charge for a 56-49 win,
Platteville held a short lived 15-14 lead as Skye Digman (9 points) ruled the inside early.
Led by Whitish and Schave, however, the Eagles went on an 8-0 run and never trailed after that.
They led by as many as 18 in the second half, but the Lady Hillmen got it back to within two with about 4:00 remaining.
Whitish put in a neat reverse layup on a baseline drive, was fouled and made the free throw to put them back up by five.
After a Platteville bucket, Pickarts nailed a huge three pointer for the Eagles to put them back up five again and it was free throws after that for the seven point win. Kelsee Fargo made the bulk from the line down the stretch.
"Except for the ending, Platteville took away Mia on the inside in the second half," coach Pickarts said. "They are pretty good size. We go into most games outsized, but we fight inside. Mia, Kelsee, Teegan and Mattie all scrap Inside. We emphasize position."
"At halftime we talked about fronting Digman and not letting her shoot easily over the top of us," the coach said.
"I was proud of the way our kids stepped up with Hannah out. They are an intelligent group who understand what needs to be done," he added.
Platteville was led in scoring by Sierra Brecke's 15 points.
SCORE BY HALVES
PLATTEVILLE 21 28-49
BARNEVELD 31 25-56
BOX SCORE
PLATTEVILLE 49 (fg, ft, tp) Budden 2-2-6, Tashner 1-5/7, Emendorfer 2-1-6, Brookens 1-0-3, Woodworth 1-1-3, Brecke 4-6-15, Digman 4-1-9. Totals 18-16/28-49. F-22. FO-Tashner. 3-pointers: Emendorfer 1, Brecke 1, Brookens 1.
BARNEVELD 56: Fargo 1-4-7, Waker 0-2-2, Skaife 0-2-2, Pickarts 6-2-16, Whitish 8-4-20, Schave 4-0-9. Totals 23-13/28-56. F-23. 3-pointers: Fargo 1, Pickarts 2, Schave 1.