Lena takes down Suring in M&O girls basketball battle

The Lena High School girls basketball team used a balanced attack to take down Suring 54-45 in a Marinette & Oconto Conference matchup on Dec. 5 in Suring.

The Wildcats had three players score in double figures and eventually were able to pull away from the hosting Eagles.

“I guess pushing the ball and going to Eva (Brooks) inside,” said Lena coach Tim Goldschmidt on what his team did to come away with the win. “We had a height advantage on the inside, and we got a lot of fastbreak points, which was the big key.”

Brooks led Lena with 18 points after hitting nine shots from the floor.

Three of her four first-half baskets came in the opening five minutes, when Lena jumped out to a 7-4 lead.

Whitney Potter connected on a pair of shots, the second being a 3-pointer, to push the Lena lead to seven, 13-6. A couple minutes later, Brooks scored again to make it 15-9.

Suring, which was playing without Christine Sleeter and lost starter Macie Reed early on due to injury, scored the game’s next eight points to go ahead 17-15.

Hailey VanRens got the run started with a basket before Bunny Cramer connected on a 3-pointer. After a Lena timeout, Cramer hit a free throw before making another shot to tie things up.

The two conference foes stayed within two points of each other for the final five-plus minutes of the half.

The game remained tight for the first couple minutes of the second half. Lena appeared to grab control with a quick 6-0 run on two Eva Brooks’ field goals and two free throws from Claire Brooks, but Suring got back within one after a bucket from Birdee Cramer and triple from Bunny Cramer.

“I think coming into this year, we didn’t know like who we were going to have and the younger girls stepping up, getting off the bench — knowing our role has really helped this year,” said Suring’s MacKenzie Bailey. “Like, there’s some girls that don’t play a lot and there’s some girls that do play a lot when we need them, and we needed them tonight and they played really good.”

It was again Eva Brooks that helped the Wildcats create some separation after making a couple shots, but free throws from Bunny Cramer brought the Eagles within three again. A Potter bucket was answered by a 3-pointer from Suring’s Emma Kristof, but that was the closest the hosts were the rest of the game.

Natalie McNurlen converted a tough shot before two free throws from Claire Brooks and a basket from Potter gave the visitors a 41-33 advantage with about nine minutes to play.

The teams played pretty even the rest of the way, and eventually the clock ran out, giving Lena the win.

“We’re just playing one game at a time,” said Goldschmidt. “We got a decent group, we can finish towards the top (of the conference) but we have to come to play every night, which we didn’t for a full game tonight.

“I think the girls know that, they’ll get better, they’ll improve, they’re a great group. We’ll just do what we need to do to win and take it one game at a time, because I don’t think anybody in this conference is going to go undefeated.”

Along with Eva Brooks’ 18-point performance, Potter and Claire Brooks also finished in double figures with 15 and 10 points, respectively.

All five Eagles that scored had over six points, led by Bunny Cramer’s 15 points. Bailey added nine points, while Kristof had eight.

Despite coming up short, the Eagles were pleased with their showing knowing they weren’t at full strength.

“I think the girls that played more, they realized like, ‘Hey, I can play varsity and keep up with these girls.’ I think that will boost their confidence and then our whole team will keep going off the confidence,” said Bailey.

Lena 21 33 — 54

Suring 19 26 — 45

Lena (54): Natalie McNurlen 2-5 6, Eva Brooks 0-3 18, Claire Brooks 7-10 10, Karli Fischer 0-0 2, Breanna Koslowsky 0-0 2, Whitney Potter 2-4 15, Chaela Rabas 1-2 1.

Suring (45): MacKenzie Bailey 3-4 9, Bunny Cramer 3-4 15, Emma Kristof 0-0 8, Birdee Cramer 1-3 7, Hailey VanRens 0-0 6.

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