Loggers Complete Furious Comeback Against Mountaineers

Posted

CLUTCH: Onalaska Ends Game on 8-0 Run to Claim a 39-37 Victory Over Visiting Rainier

ONALASKA — The game looked cooked. Done. Stick a steak knife in it.

No. 10 Rainier had just ripped off a 10-2 run to take a 37-31 lead over No. 9 Onalaska with three minutes to go. It wasn’t looking good for the host Loggers.

Onalaska then caused three-straight turnovers, leading to three quick buckets to tie it up with a minute to go, before Callie Lawrence drained a go-ahead hook shot from the paint with 25 seconds left.

Rainier’s last-second 3-point attempt from Faith Boesch rattled off the rim and the Loggers leaped in celebration.

It was a crucial Central 2B League victory for the Loggers between two top-10, state-ranked squads that entered the game with one league loss each.

The victory runs the Loggers’ win streak to four while snapping the Mountaineers’ four-game win streak.

“It had nothing to do with our execution or our gameplan,” Onalaska coach Alana Olson said. “The girls just absolutely had the competitive spirit to win tonight.”

Competitiveness has been the recipe for success for the Loggers this season, who improved to 11-3 overall and 5-1 in league with the victory.

Onalaska has built a reputation as a tenacious defensive team that runs 100 miles per hour and grinds its opponents into submission. Thursday night was no different.

Ony led 8-7 after one quarter before the Mountaineers took their first lead of the game, 11-9, with five minutes left before the break. Both squads battled to an 18-18 stalemate at the half in a low-scoring, turnover-fueled defensive skirmish.

The Loggers looked like they may run away with it with a minute to go in the third quarter after building a 29-20 lead. But it was the Mountaineers who stole the momentum in  the fourth quarter, ripping off a 10-2 run to take a semi-comfortable 37-31 lead with three minutes to go.

But the tireless Loggers locked down in crunch time, starting with a forced turnover on Rainier’s inbound pass that set up Brooklyn Sandridge’s bucket, sparking the 8-0 run capped by Lawrence’s game-winning bucket.

“I think it comes with having some upperclassmen and having some maturity,” Olson said. “I mean, they couldn’t hear a thing I was saying out there. They just absolutely wanted to win — and they did. Whatever it took to win, so I’m really proud of their effort.”

Lawrence and Morgan Hamilton finished with a game-high 14 points each.

For Rainier, Isabella Holmes led with a team-high 11 points, while Faith Boesch added eight and Brooklyn Swenson added six.

Rainier (10-4, 5-2) heads to Eatonville for a non-league match on Monday. Onalaska (11-4, 5-1) hosts Toledo on Friday in a C2BL matchup.