Witt-Birn girls continue hot start to basketball season

The Wittenberg-Birnamwood High School girls basketball continued its impressive start to the season with a convincing 62-31 win over Shiocton in a Central Wisconsin Conference-East Division matchup on Dec. 2 in Wittenberg.

The Chargers shot 36% from the field — missing some good looks near the rim — and missed seven free throws, but the team made up for it by knocking down 11 3-pointers and turning Shiocton over early and often.

The win pushed Witt-Birn to 5-0 overall and 1-0 in conference play.

“I think we just have a great bond with each other, and we can really — without actually verbally communicating — we just kind of know where everyone is going to be on the floor,” said freshman Rory Salvesen, who led the team with 19 points on the night. “And that really helps us out, because we know where we got to be, and we know who is going to be where when. It’s really a benefit for our team.”

Salvesen was one of three Chargers to hit three 3-pointers in the contest. Senior Reese Rogowski and freshman Melaina Granquist each hit three triples and provided 16 points for the hosts. Senior Jami Wendler hit the team’s other two 3-pointers to score her six points.

It was a slow start offensively for Witt-Birn. The Chargers missed their first five shots and were only able to score seven points in the first seven minutes. Despite the cold shooting to start the game, the hosts were tied thanks to great defensive play.

“We stayed true to our defense and worked hard on the defensive end, and that led to a lot of steals and turnovers on their end,” said Rogowski. “We were able to push down the floor and get some easy baskets.”

After not hitting a triple in the early portion of the game, Witt-Birn caught fire from deep to bust the game wide open.

Wendler hit a 3-pointer to get things started before Salvesen, Rogowski and Granquist each made one. Salvesen converted a 2-point make — the team’s first non-triple in nine minutes — before she hit another 3-pointer, making it 24-11.

After a Shiocton basket, Salvesen had a steal and bucket before Granquist buried another triple. Granquist converted another shot before Wendler hit her second 3-pointer to cap the scoring in the first half and give the Chargers a 34-13 halftime lead.

The 3-point barrage briefly carried over into the second half, with Rogowski hitting a triple, but after that the Chargers went scoreless for five-plus minutes. Despite the scoring drought, the lead was never truly threatened because the hosts only surrendered nine points in that span.

Granquist broke the drought with a free throw, sparking a 16-0 run which helped Witt-Birn close up the win.

Sophomore Faith Resch, Salvesen and Rogowski joined Granquist to provide the scoring on the big run. Granquist and Salvesen hit their final 3-pointers during that stretch.

From there, Witt-Birn was able to coast to the victory, with Rogowski, Granquist and junior Katherine Stewart tallying the team’s final points.

Along with leading the team in points, Salvesen also was credited with nine steals, six rebounds and five assists. Rogowski had eight rebounds and three assists, while Granquist had six boards.

Senior Allison Linke contributed six rebounds and four steals for the Chargers in what turned out to be a balanced effort.

Despite the lopsided score and perfect start to the season for the Chargers, the team knows it can still get better. That gives the players some big aspirations.

“We have high expectations this season, so just being able to get this first win in the conference by this much and not have all of us playing our best shows that once we do hit our peak that it will be good,” said Rogowski.

“You can always be better; never settle for anything,” said Salvesen. “At practices, we’re constantly pushing one another, which is great. I love the group of girls that I get to be with every day and the coaching through everything. The motto is to get better always, never settle, push to be the best you can be. That’s kind of the mindset we go into every day in practice.”

Shiocton 13 18 — 31

Witt-Birn 34 28 — 62

Witt-Birn (62): Reese Rogowski 5-6 16, Allison Linke 0-2 0, Rory Salvesen 2-2 19, Jami Wendler 0-2 6, Katherine Stewart 0-0 2, Faith Resch 2-4 2, Melaina Granquist 3-3 16.

Shiocton (31): Abigail Daniels 0-0 5, Kendal Stingle 2-5 7, Aliyah Reese 0-2 0, Alexis Garcia 0-0 7, Kiley Dorn 3-4 5, Autumn Taylor 1-2 1, Claire Collar 0-0 6.

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