SHULLSBURG – Shullsburg rallied from eight points down with five minutes to play in regulation to force an overtime period, but the visiting Platteville Hillmen got baskets from four different players in the extra session to top the Lady Miners, 58-55, in their non-conference girls’ basketball season opener on Tueday, Nov. 22.
    Senior guard Hattie Rennert and junior center Brianna Leahy combined to score 28 of Shullsburg’s 34 points in the second half– including all five in OT– to keep the Miners (0-1 overall) in the game, however the Hillmen (2-1) got 29 of their 35 second-half points from the trio of junior Skye Digman and freshmen Josie Nies and Sami Martin to pull out the thrilling victory.
    The lead see-sawed between the teams for much of the first half until back-to-back breakaway layups by freshman Becca Hoyer in the final minute of the half sent Platteville into the locker room at the intermission sporting a 23-21 advantage.
    The Miners would rally to tie the game on six different occasions in the second half, but they could never grab the lead from the Hillmen.
    After Platteville used a 9-1 run to build up their largest lead of the night at 43-35 with 5:01 to play, the Miners charged right back with a 12-4 scoring spurt of their own to even the score at 47 all with 2:09 remaining.
    Platteville went back up 50-48 on a free throw by Martin with :48.7 to go in regulation, but Rennert drive in for a layup with 24 seconds remaining to tie it at 50-50 and neither team could score again before the end of regulation.
    The Hillmen took the lead early in the OT period on back-to-back baskets by Neis and junior Rachel Bailie. Shullsburg answered back with two free throws by Leahy and another layup by Rennert to deadlock the score at 54 all with 1:22 left in the extra session.
    Senior Brelynn Updike made her lone basket of the second half count by burying the go-ahead jumper with 1:03 to go to put the Hillmen ahead for good, and Martin added a free throw with 40 seconds remaining to extend the lead to 58-55.
    The Miners had their chances down the stretch, but missed game-tying 3-pointer with 13 seconds to go and missed five straight free throws in the final four seconds of play. The final foul shot was missed on purpose with the hopes of gathering the rebound for another 3-point attempt, however Hoyer gathered in the board to seal the win for the Hillmen.
    Rennert finished with a game-high 26 points– 15 in the second half– to go along with nine rebounds and four steals, while Leahy– who was held scoreless in the first half– finished a block away from a triple-double after tallying 13 points, 12 rebounds and nine blocked shots.
    Senior guard Nicole Teutschmann added seven points, and senior guard Cora Holland dished out a team-high four assists for the Miners.
    Digman led Platteville with 18 points, while Martin followed with 14 and Neis chipped in with eight for the guests.
    Shullsburg has non-conference games at Juda on Friday, Dec. 2, and at home against Albany on Monday, Dec. 5.

Platteville….. 23   27   8 – 58
Shullsburg… 21   29   5 – 55
Platteville – Josie Neis 8, Brelynn Updike 5, Rachel Bailie 4, Becca Hoyer 6, Hanna Langmeier 2, Sami Martin 14, Sami Knockel 1, Skye Digman 18. Totals – 0  10-21  58.
Shullsburg – Faith Ubersox 2, McKailah Strang 3, Hattie Rennert 26, Nicole Teutschmann 7, Brianna Leahy 13, Cora Holland 4. Totals – 16  17-30  55.
3-point goals– P NA (0), S 6 (Rennert 4, Teutschmann 1, Leahy 1). Total fouls– P NA, S 18. Fouled out– P: Langmeier, Martin, Digman.