Published: Nov. 21, 2015
Owls escape from Lions
Slinger wins home opener
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
SLINGER — Kylah Schmidt was having a home opener she’d
rather forget.
Then she made it memorable.
The sophomore made a lay-up as the buzzer sounded to lead
Slinger to a 38-36 nonconference victory over Lomira in the Owls’ first home
game of the season.
Schmidt’s late-game magic salvaged what was nearly a
disastrous start to the home schedule for the Owls.
With 12:18 remaining in the second half, Slinger (2-0) led
30-20. Then, with 1:24 left in the half, Lomira (0-1) tied the game at 34.
“We were just in an offensive funk,” Slinger coach Tony
Dobson said. “We didn’t score for a while.
“Offensively, we were out of sync, we weren’t making any
shots. They made some shots that got them back in the game.”
The Owls made one field goal in a 10-minute stretch in the
second half.
What helped save Slinger were two key plays by Schmidt.
With the game tied at 34, Schmidt spotted Josie Bjorklund
cutting to the basket from the 3-point line on the right wing. She bounced a
pass to Bjorklund, who made the basket for the 36-34 lead.
“That was a great back-cut by Josie,” Dobson said.
Lomira tied the game with a lay-up by Haley Cole with eight
seconds remaining. Timeout? Yes? No?
Dobson said no.
“We run, that’s what we do,” he said, adding he didn’t want
to give Lomira a chance to set up a defense.
Emily Rothenhoefer quickly spotted her coach waving for her
to bring the ball up the court. Then she glanced at the game clock ... 8 ... 7
... 6.
“At first, I thought he was going to call a timeout because
he said he had another one,” Rothenhoefer said. “So I looked him and he said
‘Go.’ I just kept going.”
As she got into the front-court, she spotted an open Schmidt
a few feet from the basket. Rothenhoefer made the pass to Schmidt, who put up
the shot — the ball fell through the hoop as the buzzer sounded.
“In previous years, we would’ve lost this game,” Dobson
said. “We found a way to win tonight, which is important for us.”
The end of the game fared better for Schmidt than the
previous 34-plus minutes.
Schmidt was mired in foul trouble. When she was on the
court, she committed turnovers and wasn’t making shots she believed she
could’ve, should’ve made.
Schmidt committed her fourth foul with 6:54 left in the
second half and the Owls holding onto a 30-25 lead at that point. Dobson took
her out of the game, not wanting one of his tallest players to foul out.
The hope was for Schmidt to sit for some time, at least more
than she did. With 4:56 left, Schmidt was back on the court with one foul left.
“With Kylah in there, we’ve got to have her presence
inside,” Dobson said. At that point, it was 3328 in favor of Slinger.
“I was putting way too much on myself than I should have,”
Schmidt said.
The Lions kept chipping away at the deficit and tied it at
34 with 1:24 left in regulation on a basket by Natalie Geiger.
Geiger, the team’s leading returning scorer from a year ago
(7.7 points per game), had a big game with game-highs in points (20) and
rebounds (12).
“It was tough, we knew she was good,” Dobson said. “But the
girls battled.”
Slinger was led by Rothenhoefer’s 16 points and freshman
Sydney Reinhardt had nine points, six in the first half. Schmidt had four
points.
In the season-opener against University School of Milwaukee,
the Owls won 85-12. Dobson knew 85 points for a second straight game was
unlikely. Even half of that may have been a stretch.
“(Lomira coach) Jake (Flood) is a great coach,” Dobson said.
“(Lomira) plays great defense, his kids play hard, they’re physical.
“Jake and I talked before the game, we knew it was going to
be low scoring, it’s going to be physical. It’s always close. We figured that
was the kind of game it was going to be.”
Against USM, Schmidt led the Owls with 14 points. That was
one reason why she hoped to play better Friday. But it was also because it was
the home opener.
“I was getting down on myself,” Schmidt said. “But at the
end I definitely picked it up.”
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