3-pointers carry Falls past Antigo

The Oconto Falls High School girls basketball team found the deep ball Thursday, hitting from beyond the arc 11 times in a 49-32 victory over nonconference foe Antigo. Senior McKenna Larsen and junior Elizabeth Manns combined for nine 3-pointers, hitting four and five, respectively, on their home court. “We were on tonight,” said Larsen, who led all scorers with 22 points. Larsen got Oconto Falls (4-0, 2-0 Bay Conference) rolling with the Panthers’ first eight points. Sophomore Alyssa Nelson tacked on a 3-pointer of her own to close the first quarter. Manns found her range in the second quarter, scoring all nine of the Panthers’ points from downtown to help Oconto Falls enter the half tied at 20. “I was just kind of in my rhythm,” said Manns, who ended the night with 17 points. “It was just flowing off my hand, I guess.” Oconto Falls coach Mike Kaczmareck said the team philosophy is to work inside out, but the Antigo defense in the paint opened up the outside shot for the Panthers. “We shoot a lot of threes,” Kaczmareck said. “We haven’t been making them all year. This is the first night we have really been making them.” “We obviously can’t live and die off the three, but when the ball goes in the basket, we are going to keep shooting,” Larsen said. Kaczmareck said the goal entering the second half was to pick up the tempo and score more points in transition. Oconto Falls switched to a full-court press that led to several turnovers and helped the Panthers outscore Antigo 16-4 in the third quarter. “I think we all just started working together and we all just picked up our energy and we really wanted to win it after that, because we knew we could, and we just played our game,” Manns said. In addition to Larsen’s 14 points in the second half, senior Elizabeth Watzka knocked down a 3-pointer and senior Carly Lemke added four points to help lead the Panthers to victory. Kaczmareck said there are still things his undefeated girls need to work on, including finding more scorers. “They are there, they just need to look to score,” Kaczmareck said. Manns said the game is hopefully an indication that Oconto Falls will go far this season. “The toughest part of the season is yet to come, so I think if we get better and better each game, good things will happen,” Larsen said.