Lady Dodgers Defeat Pointers 71-63

By John Dalton

In a non-conference game between Dodgeville and Mineral Point Tuesday night, second-half free-throws were the difference as the Lady Dodgers hit 19 of 23 down the stretch defeating the Pointers 71-63.  

It was a fast-paced game early as Pointer Ella Kroll would start things out with an early bucket, and immediately McKenna Reilly for Dodgeville answered with a bucket of her own.  Then Point got hot as buckets from Eliza Ingwell, a 3-point shot by Belle Watters, and Maddy Kabat had a steal and a hoop, and the Lady Pointers were quickly up 9-2.  

Point was up 13-7 with only 2:44 off the clock in the first half.  Early turnovers by Dodgeville let Point climb to a 20-10 lead after buckets by Kabat and Bree Swenson.  

Down 22-12, Dodgeville would go on a 10-0 run fueled by a basket by Marley Busch, then Reilly hit two shots in the lane and then buried a 3-point shot and tie this game up at 22 apiece with 5:39 left in the first half.  Down 32-28, Dodger Maggie White got the ball off a turnover and drove the distance for a basket cutting the lead to two.  It was White again just before the half with a drive to the hoop and another basket. 

Mineral Point would ultimately take a 35-34 lead into halftime.  The second-half action was reminiscent of the first with both teams exchanging hoops.  Dodgeville was up 43-40 when Reilly hit a shot inside the arc making it 45-40 forcing a Mineral Point timeout.  

But Mineral Point is a tough out.  Down 49-44, Swenson would hit back-to-back 3-point shots to regain the lead 50-49 with 10:00 minutes left in the game.  Again came the Dodgers, after a missed Reilly shot, Tommi Crubaugh was in position for the board the bucket, and the lead.  

Reilly would make her next shot down the court to put the Dodgers up 53-50, but Laci Lindsey from the corner for Point hit nothing but net on a 3-point shot and this game was again knotted at 53.  

Tied at 58, Dodger Rayona Kitelinger would hit a huge 3-point shot with under 4:00 minutes to play to give the Dodgers a lead they would never relinquish in this game.  With both teams in the double bonus, Point would cut the Dodger lead to three at 65-62, but Dodgeville hit their free throws when it mattered down the stretch to earn a victory against a tough Mineral Point squad.  

Reilly led Dodgeville in scoring with 29 points on the night while White had 20.  Both players hit 8 free throws apiece to help secure the win.  Mineral Point had balanced scoring led by Swenson with 13, Kroll with 12 and Lindsey with 11.  

Dodgeville Head Coach Hayden Hardyman after the game, “That is two really good teams.  I told the girls after the game that is what we are capable of.  We didn’t let emotions or turnovers get the best of us tonight.  We battled through some adversity and I couldn’t be more proud of our girls tonight, it was a huge win for us tonight.”

“They always say that free throws win ball games and that couldn’t be truer than tonight,” Hardyman said regarding hit teams' clutch free throw shooting in the second half.  

Mineral Point Head Coach Nick Jelle, “We started well early, but defensively we weren’t there tonight.  This is the most points we’ve given up all year by quite a far margin, so going forward that is something we have to get back to.  With any loss, it’s a good loss as long as you learn from it so we’ll get back at it tomorrow.”   

Dodgeville now moves to 16-7 overall on the year, 6-3 in conference with a rematch against Prairie du Chien coming up Thursday night at Dodgeville.  The tip-off is scheduled for 7:30.  

Mineral Point moves to 18-4 overall and is 11-2 in conference play, with its only two losses to Cuba City.  They travel to Fennimore in conference action Thursday night with a 7:30 tip-off.  

BOX SCORE

Dodgeville       34 – 37 - 71

Mineral Point 35 – 28 - 63

Dodgeville (fg-ft-tp); Reilly 9-8-29, White 6-8-20, Busch 3-0-7, Crubaugh 2-2-6, Wiegel 2-2-4, Kitelinger 1-0-3, Wasley 1-0-2.

3-pointers; Reilly 3, Busch 1, Kitelinger 1.

Mineral Point (fg-ft-tp); Swenson 5-1-13, Kroll 4-4-12, Lindsey 3-3-11, Watters 3-1-9, Kabat 4-1-9, Ingwell 3-0-6, Schultz 1-0-3.  

3-pointers; Lindsey 2, Watters 2, Swenson 2, Schultz 1.