SHULLSBURG — The Shullsburg Miners girls’ basketball team had a rough week on the hardwood last week after suffering three losses over the span of six days to slip out of the state rankings and out of sole possession of first-place in the Six Rivers West standings.
    Following Monday’s loss at Darlington, the Lady Miners (15-5 overall, 8-2 SRW) returned to the court on Thursday, Feb. 1, to host the River Ridge Timberwolves in a Six Rivers West affair.
    The Timberwolves (15-4, 6-3) got 17 points from Skylar White, 14 points from Maria Breuer and 13 points from Taylor Langmeier as they took down the Miners, 48-45, in a down-to-the-wire thriller.
    “Credit River Ridge for making enough shots down the stretch to get the win. I don’t believe that the defense was good enough to get the job done,” said Shullsburg head coach Nathan Russell.
    “I am happy with the effort of our kids. They gave us everything but some of them did not have enough in the tank with the various illnesses going through our school. That being said, we were still in the game at the end and we had a chance to force overtime and just missed on that opportunity. We have to get healthy and focused to finish the stretch run.”
    Senior Brianna Leahy posted a double-double with a game-high 20 points and 14 rebounds to go along with seven blocked shots.
    Senior guard Nicole Teutschmann tallied nine points, five assists and two steals for the Miners.
    Shullsburg capped their week by traveling to the JustAgame Fieldhouse in Wisconsin Dells to face off against the #5-ranked Lourdes Academy Knights in a non-conference contest.
    The hot-shooting Knights (14-4) came out and buried six 3-pointers in the first half to build up a 40-24 halftime advantage.
    Lourdes extended their lead to 47-27 early in the second half on a trey by freshman Hope Burns.
    The Miners used a 12-4 run to cut the deficit to 51-39 midway through the half.
    After the Knights went back on top by 17 on another 3 by Burns, the Miners broke off on a 17-3 run to pull back with three with under a minute to play. Back-to-back 3s by Faith Ubersox and Leahy cut the Knights lead to 61-58 with 58 ticks remaining.
    Junior Alexis Rolph went 4-for-4 from the free throw line over the final 50 seconds of play to seal the victory for the Knights, who out-shot the Miners from 3-point range, 9-7, and the foul line, 17-16, to eke out the win.
    “Our players really enjoyed the opportunity to compete with a non-familiar, quality opponent. I think it took us some time to get acclimated to the speed of their guards and they started off the game shooting very well from outside. Once we settled down, it became a very competitive game between two very solid teams. I am very proud of our players for battling,” Russell commented.
    Senior Quinn Godfroy sank four 3-pointers on her way to a team-high 18 points for Lourdes. Rolph went 12-for-13 from the foul line to finish with 16 points, while Burns added four treys and 14 points for the Knights.
    Leahy scored 15 of her game-high 24 points in the second half to guide the Shullsburg rally. Freshman guard Layla Alt netted 14 of her 17 points in the second half for the Miners.
    Leahy also pulled down 18 rebounds for another double-double, while senior Kindle Cook led the team with three assists.
    Freshman Madison Russell matched her season-high with seven points to go along with five rebounds and five steals. Sophomore Reva Spillane added five points for Shullsburg.
     “We knew that our schedule was very difficult in late January and early February. Our players have to show that we can finish the regular season strong,” remarked Coach Russell.
    Shullsburg has a Six Rivers West game at Belmont (9-9, 5-4) on Friday, Feb 9.
 
River Ridge…….. 25   23 – 48
Shullsburg……… 22   23 – 45
    River Ridge – White 17, Langmeier 13, Ploessl 2, Herrick 2, Breuer 14. Totals – 17  13-19  48.
    Shullsburg – Faith Ubersox 4, Kindle Cook 3, Kayla Klotz 3, Nicole Teutschmann 9, Brianna Leahy 20, Layla Alt 6. Totals – 15  11-17  45.
    3-point goals– RR 1 (White 1), S 4 (Cook 1, Teutschmann 3). Total fouls– RR 14, S 16. Fouled out– RR: Herrick, S: Ubersox.
 
Lourdes…………. 40   26 – 66
Shullsburg……… 24   39 – 63
    Lourdes – Godfroy 18, Rolph 16, Berenz 2, Russo 6, Burns 14, Wesenberg 8, Giese 2. Totals – 20  17-23  66.
    Shullsburg – Faith Ubersox 3, Kayla Klotz 4, Madison Russell 7, Reva Spillane 5, Nicole Teutschmann 3, Brianna Leahy 24, Layla Alt 17. Totals – 20  16-24  63.
    3-point goals– L 9 (Godfrey 4, Burns 4, Wesenberg 1), S 7 (Ubersox 1, Spillane 1, Teutschmann 1, Leahy 2, Alt 2). Total fouls– L 20, S 18. Fouled out– None.