Girls Basketball: Fast start propels Witt-Birn to win

WITTENBERG — The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School girls basketball team built a big lead before cruising to a 71-46 nonconference victory over Gillett on Thursday.

After Gillett scored the opening basket of the game, Witt-Birn rattled off the next eight points. Juniors Emma Herb and Abi Fraaza accounted for all the points on the run.

The visiting Tigers then scored their second basket to make it an 8-4 game, but the Chargers scored the next 18 points to grab a commanding lead.

“Going into this game, we were all pretty nervous, it being our first home game,” said Herb, who scored 16 first-half points on her way to a game-high 24 points. “We knew we got beat by them last year which pushed us to play with harder intensity right off the bat.”

“We started off with a lot of intensity and were very aggressive,” said Fraaza, who finished the game with 19 points. “As our shots fell, we got more and more confidence to keep piling on the score. Our coach told us that Gillett was a very good team and we all wanted to come out and prove we were better.”

Witt-Birn looked to be in control with a 30-5 lead, but stumbled going into halftime as Gillett went on a 12-3 run.

The Chargers opened the second half on a 10-0 run, eliminating Gillett’s thought of a big comeback. Fraaza and senior Megan Konkol each hit a 3-pointer during the stretch, with Herb tacking on a pair of field goals near the basket.

From there, the Chargers were able to match any of the runs the Tigers put together.

“It’s kind of a punch in the gut right away if you can start fast,” said Witt-Birn coach Nick Mechelke. “It’s hard to come back from a big deficit like that.”

Fraaza ended up scoring 12 points in the second half, with half of the points coming on 3-point shots. Fraaza posted a double-double by also grabbing 10 rebounds. She assisted on seven other baskets.

Herb totaled eight rebounds and five steals. Konkol and senior Olivia Curley each finished with four assists.

Reese Rogowski gave Mechelke some great minutes off the bench (with just three players on it; eight total players were in uniform). The freshman scored 12 points and grabbed eight rebounds.

As a team, Witt-Birn shot 52% from the field, converting nearly 60% of its 2-point shots.

The win moved the Chargers to 2-0 on the young season.

“Feels great to start the season off 2-0 and it shows that all the hard work we have continued to put in through all the years is coming together,” said Fraaza. “The team this year is indeed small but we are super close and more like a family. Going to practice every day pushes us even harder knowing we can have a very successful season.”

Witt-Birn will host Medford on Tuesday in its next game.

Gillett 17 29 — 46

Witt-Birn 33 38 — 71

Witt-Birn (71): Reese Rogowski 3-4 12, Olivia Curley 2-4 5, Megan Konkol 2-2 5, Abi Fraaza 1-2 19, Amara Schoepke 0-3 2, Kaylee Schram 0-0 4, Emma Herb 4-5 24.

Gillett (46): Sydney Young 0-0 8, Aubrey DeBauch 5-7 19, Karissa Schaal 0-0 9, Ryann Wagner 0-1 0, Brianna DeBauch 4-6 4, Camryn Long 3-4 5, Macy Franti 1-2 1.

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