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By Levi Zimmerman
The Mineral Point and Iowa-Grant girls basketball teams played their final regular season game against each other at Mineral Point Thursday night.
The number one-ranked, undefeated Pointers ultimately ran away with an 81-18 victory on Senior Night.
Before things got underway, Mineral Point's four seniors were recognized: Delaney Ross; Mallory Lindsey; Ella Chambers; Blair Watters.
Mineral Point started the contest with a 21-point run until Iowa-Grant's Jackie Hawes made a basket to get the Panthers on the board.
The Pointers took a commanding 44-8 lead into halftime, and Blair Watters led the way with 15 first-half points.
Watters went on to score eight points in the second half, ending with 23, as Mineral Point outscored the Panthers, 37-10.
Mineral Point junior Kennedy Wenger ended with 12 points, and junior Katelyn Cox had 10.
Freshmen Laci Lindsey and Ella Kroll had nine points each; Laci knocked down three, three-point field goals, while Kroll had four baskets and a free throw.
Mallory Lindsey added eight points, including making two, three-pointers.
Lindsey, as of February 14, was ranked third in the state in division four in three-point shooting, making 89 of 202 attempts for a 44 percent mark.
The top two players in each division will be invited to compete in the WIAA 3-Point Challenge at the Resch Center in Green Bay during the State Championships, however, players of teams that advance to State cannot compete.
Senior Delaney Ross also drilled a couple three-pointers.
Senior Ella Chambers had four points.
Hawes, a senior, led Iowa-Grant with six points.
Junior Ashley Runde had five points, including a three-pointer. Runde was also two-for-two from the free throw line.
Junior Julia Searls added a basket, as did sophomore Amiah Fischer.
With the win, Mineral Point completed an undefeated regular season at 24-0, overall, and 14-0 in the SWAL.
Last week, the Pointers clinched their fourth consecutive SWAL championship.
The Pointers received the number one-seed and a first-round bye for the WIAA division 4 playoffs, and they will host the winner of eight-seed Darlington versus nine-seed Melrose-Mindoro Friday, Feb. 25 at 7:00 p.m. in a Regional Semifinal.
Should they advance, Mineral Point will play at home the following day, Saturday, at 7:00 p.m. against #4 Lancaster, #5 Luther or #12 Riverdale in the Regional Final.
With the loss, Iowa-Grant moved to 3-21, overall, and 1-13 in the SWAL.
Melissa Martinez, Iowa-Grant head coach, shared her thoughts on the Panthers' season finale.
"There's not much to say except the number one-ranked team in our division played to their ranking, and we did not help ourselves on the court," Martinez expressed.
"We did not execute the basics, and frustration set the tone for our lack of success on each side of the ball," she said. "We will move forward to our Regional matchup vs. Kickapoo and play on."
The Panthers received the #14 seed for the WIAA division five playoffs, and they traveled to #3 Kickapoo Tuesday in a Regional Quarterfinal.
Iowa-Grant's seniors are: Grace Lenz; Teris Baker; Jackie Hawes.
SCORE BY HALVES
Iowa-Grant 8 10 18
Mineral Point 44 37 81
BOX SCORE
IOWA-GRANT 18: (fg-ft-tp) Jelle 1-0-3, McPhail 0-0-0, Vavricka 0-0-0, Baker 0-0-0, Cordts 0-0-0, Runde 1-2-5, Searls 1-0-2, Hawes 3-0-6, Stecklein 0-0-0, Kohlenberg 1-0-2, Fischer 0-0-0, Schultz 0-0-0. Totals- 7-2/2-18 Fouls- 11
MINERAL POINT 81: Ross 2-0-6, Mootz 0-0-0, L. Lindsey 3-0-9, M. Lindsey 3-0-8, Be. Watters 0-0-0, Chambers 1-2-4, Bl. Watters 11-1-23, Kroll 4-1-9, Wenger 5-2-12, Cox 5-0-10. Totals- 34-6/10-81 Fouls- 8
3 point goals:
I-G (2)- Runde 1, Jelle 1
MP (7)- L. Lindsey 3, M. Lindsey 2, Ross 2