Dodger girls blow big lead, lose to Fennimore by one

By John Dalton

The Dodgeville Girls’ basketball team lost an 18-point lead in the second half to Fennimore Friday night and their last-second shot to win it fell short in a tough loss, 49-48.

The Dodgers were down 10-7 in the first half, but after a timeout, they went on a 12-0 run to take a 19-10 lead, thanks in part to two 3-point shots by Emma Dougherty and two jumpers by Addison Reilly. The Dodgers would take a 20-17 lead into halftime.

They would continue to pull away early in the second half as they would hit six, 3-point shots, two by Abilene Bartz, as they went on a 16-3 run and took a 36-20 lead.  After a Fennimore timeout halfway through the second half, it was the Golden Eagles' turn to start hitting some shots from long distance.  

Kate Kenney, Rhiannon Nelson-Hahn, and Campbell Fitzgerald helped lead the charge for Fennimore as they combined to hit four, 3-point baskets on consecutive possessions to cut into the lead.  Addison Reilly hit a 3-point bucket to put Dodgeville up 44-31.  Fennimore would go on a 9-0 run cutting the Dodger lead to 44-40 when Bartz hit a bucket in the lane to put the Dodgers up six. 

It was all tied at 46 when Fennimore’s Brooklyn Ritchie scored on a fast-break with just under two minutes left in the game.  With under a minute to play, Dodger Marlie McGraw would tie the game on a jump shot at 48.  But with 5.4 seconds left, Nelson-Hahn was fouled.  She missed her first free throw attempt but hit the second one.  Bartz had a good look at the basket as time was expiring but the ball hit the front of the rim and the Dodgers lost in heartbreaking fashion 49-48.  

“One thing I need to shout out right away is that our team battled the entire way.  We’ve talked before that it takes all 36 minutes to win a ball game.  We had the opportunity to close it out, seal the deal, but unfortunately, it didn’t fall our way,” said Dodgeville Head Coach Hayden Hardyman following the game.

“But they’re fighters.  That’s what I love about coaching this particular team.  It doesn’t matter the score or if things are going well or not so good, they’re going to battle until the end,” he said.  

Dodgeville hosted Baraboo the next day and you can find that story in this edition of The Chronicle.  You can also see highlights of this game on The Dodgeville Chronicle’s Facebook page.  

BOX SCORE

Dodgeville 20 – 28 – 48

Fennimore 17 – 32 —49

Dodgeville (fg-ft-tp); Emma Dougherty 5-1-14, Abilene Bartz 6-0-14, Addison Reilly 3-1-8, Josie Mallon 2-0-5, Lydia Rielly 1-0-3, Kayla Brom 1-0-2, Marlie McGraw 1-0-2.

3-pointers; Dougherty 3, Bartz 2, Reilly 1, Rielly 1, Mallon 1.

Fennimore (fg-ft-tp); Kate Kenney 4-4-14, Brooklyn Ritchie 4-4-12, Campbell Fitzgerald 4-0-9, Rhiannon Nelson-Hahn 2-1-6, Kylie Cole 1-0-3, Elizabeth Day 1-1-3, Peyton Lendosky 1-0-2.

3-pointers; Kenney 2, Nelson-Hahn 1, Fitzgerald 1, Cole 1.