In a game dominated by defense, the Bonduel High School girls basketball team beat Wittenberg-Birnamwood 31-29 Tuesday to create a logjam atop the Central Wisconsin Conference-8 standings.
“We knew it was going to be close; we knew it was going to be intense,” Bonduel coach Missy Dowden said. “We started out so nervous, and then we chipped away at them, one point at a time. The girls did a nice job.”
The Chargers, who were previously unbeaten in conference play, took a 10-5 lead in the first quarter, but Bonduel, sparked by a pair of 3-point shots from 5-foot-6 junior guard Deanna Zernicke, got the game to 20-19 by halftime.
In the second half, both defenses clamped down. The two teams combined for just five points in the fourth quarter, the most important coming with 50 seconds left in the game.
With Bonduel trailing 29-28, a foul sent Jennifer Dowden, Bonduel’s leading scorer, to the free-throw line. The 6-foot junior sank both shots in a whisper quiet gym to give Bonduel the lead.
“When it comes down to business, I think she really concentrates on her free throws,” said Missy Dowden, who is Jennifer’s mother. “A couple of weeks ago, she missed a couple in a game, so she’s been working on it. She knew, they all knew it was going to come down to free throws.”
After a pair of missed shots, the Chargers fouled Alexa Reinke, sending her to the line with 12.9 seconds on the clock. Reinke made one of her two attempts, to put the Bears up by a basket.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood’s Mikayla Hartman, who with Taylor Bushman led the Chargers with seven points apiece, missed a free throw and a 3-point shot in the final seconds of the game.
“We put ourselves in position to win one here,” Wittenberg-Birnamwood coach Mike Balliett said. “They made more plays in the last couple of minutes than we did.”
Jennifer Dowden finished with a game-high 11 points and had eight of Bonduel’s 21 rebounds; Wittenberg-Birnamwood had 13 rebounds. Zernicke added nine points on three 3-pointers for Bonduel. Reinke had three points and six assists. Taylor Weier scored six points.
The Bears’ whisker-close win means Bonduel (9-1, 5-1 CWC-8), Wittenberg-Birnamwood (9-2, 5-1 CWC-8) and Amherst (8-2, 4-1 CWC-8) are bunched at the top of the conference with the second half of the season about to begin.
Amherst, which beat Bonduel 47-40 Dec. 13 and lost to Witt-Birn 58-55 on Friday, will host Bonduel on Tuesday.
Since they played both Amherst and Bonduel on the road in the first half of the season, the Chargers will host both in the second half of the season.
“It’s nice for me to know that we have the top three teams in the conference at home in the second half,” Balliett said. “If we can hold our court and do the things we need to do, we’ll be there. We’ll see.”
In junior varsity action, Bonduel beat Wittenberg-Birnamwood 39-29.
Wittenberg-Birnamwood (29)
T. Bushman 3 0-0 7, M. Hartman 3 0-2 7, Zeinert 1 0-0 2, Alwes 0 2-2 2, M. Nier 2 2-2 6, Mahan 1 0-0 2, White Eagle 1 0-0 3
Bonduel (31)
Dowden 4 3-3 11, Reinke 1 1-2 3, Weier 2 2-3 6, Zernicke 3 0-0 9, Pues 1 0-0 2
Wittenberg-Birnamwood 10 10 7 2 — 29
Bonduel 5 14 9 3 — 31
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