Last Updated: Tuesday, January 15, 2008 2:30 PM CST
Sports : Lady Rollers stay tied for top
by Vern Hollister - Correspondent
In what head coach Ben Hommerding characterized as Wabeno's best game of the year, the Lady Rollers breezed past Elcho 68-23 Tuesday to stay tied at the top with Three Lakes and Crandon, each with one loss.
"Everybody played real well," Hommerding said, "the best game of the season and the best game overall. They adapted well, and played better than in the past."
Against the Lady Hornets, the Rollers out-rebounded the smaller Elcho squad and pressured the Hornets with their man to man defense. They held down all the Hornets players except Shannon Ruhland who scored nearly half the Elcho points.
On the Wabeno side, almost everyone scored. Mindy Tarlton pumped in 17 points, Autumn Aderholdt 15, most in the first half to spark the Rollers scoring; and Ainsley Cornell added 14 points in a mild shooting night for her.
"It's the first time we've had a margin," Hommerding said of the disparity in the final score. "We weren't sliding through games." This Elcho competition, according to Hommerding, was the first game that they've won easily.
Wabeno started out with a 6-1 lead after the first four minutes. In the final four minutes of the opening period, they stretched the lead. When Aderholdt hit a 3-pointer, the Rollers finished the initial period up 15-5. From there, they continued to build: 32-15 at the half, 44-19 at the three-quarter break.
For coach Michelle Kincaid and the Hornets, they have rather an odd roster with no junior varsity squad. The players are either seniors or ninth graders. Not a sophomore was listed, and one junior, Shannon Ruhland, plays. When the second quarter opened, Ruhland scored twice while Elcho showing greater energy. Aderholdt answered with a Wabeno 3-pointer, but Ruhland came back with an Elcho triple. Ruhland picked up seven of her eleven points in that span.
“I was pleased with the first half," Kincaid said. "The girls played more intense. We missed transition shots, but we had good looks at the basket. Had we made those ...," she said.
Elcho's lone conference victory came against Goodman/Pembine when they used a full-court, man defense to hold the Patriots in the second half. The tables were turned against Wabeno when the Rollers picked them up at full court or half court, while Hommerding rotated his players to wear down the Hornets.
"Pretty much every team we've played has played a zone," Hommerding said. "I like man to man, and we play it night in and night out. The players like it. They take pride in man to man; it causes a lot of turnovers. We took it full court tonight," he said, "and when we'd pull back, they'd rather go full court. I want to keep people fresh, and I watch the fouls to have certain players available later."
He rested Cornell, for example, when she picked up two fouls, and Wabeno didn't need her scoring.
"It doesn't make a lot of difference where they play on offense," Hommerding said. "Everybody's part of the offense. I've got some good shooters."
As the game progressed, the lead simply stretched; and even if one of their good shooters missed a shot, the Rollers tended to get the rebound. During one sequence, Cornell missed a short shot, grabbed the rebound, missed again, corralled a third rebound farther from the basket, and swung up a hook shot that banked in, by far the most difficult shot of the three.
Their season, Hommerding said, has not been all this way. They've had to overcome adversity and only now are mostly together. First, they lost Kelly Connors for the season due to injury. Then Tarlton got hurt, and within two quarters of getting back onto the floor, she experienced another injury. The Elcho game was her second since re-returning.
"She's someone who takes the ball to the basket real well," Hommerding said. "I always have someone who can step up."
Elcho's point guard fouled out, which didn't help the Hornets. "When Courtney Palubicki fouled out," Kincaid said, "we had more breakdowns. Their defense bothered us."
After a bye, Elcho has a tough pair of games, Three Lakes away and Florence at home. Wabeno follows the Elcho contest with Laona and Crandon before a bye.
Jenna Kortendick added nine points to the Rollers point total, Amber Baugnet six and Kristen Baugnet five.
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