SHULLSBURG – Brianna Leahy and Hattie Rennert provided the offensive scoring punch for Shullsburg and the defense made sure that lead stood as the Lady Miners pounded the Juda Panthers, 67-44, in a non-conference prep girls’ basketball game at SHS on Friday, Dec. 4.
    Leahy scored 15 of her 20 points in the first half to lead the Lady Miners (2-0 overall) out to a 30-18 halftime lead, and Rennert netted all 18 of her points in the second half to help keep the hosts ahead by double digits the entire second half.
    “It was a good effort by the ladies. We battled through some adversity with Hattie sitting most of the first half with foul trouble. That left us with only one experienced player contributing in the first half. We had growing pains like we would expect, but we had a lot of players rise to the occasion,” said Shullsburg head coach Nathan Russell. “In the second half, we really came out strong offensively and played strong defense without fouling for the most part.”
    The Panthers (1-1) got as close as 34-24 on back-to-back baskets by Chelsea Burkhalter, but the Miners answered back with a 22-11 run to grab control of the game. Rennert scored nine points during the run and Nicole Teutschmann added five for the hosts.
    Leahy pulled down 11 rebounds to go along with her game-high 20 points and she tallied four blocked shots, four steals and three assists. Rennert had 18 points and five steals, while Teutschmann added 13 points with three 3-pointers and she grabbed six boards.
    Cora Holland scored six points and McKailah Strang led the team with four assists, while Kindle Cook added five points and five rebounds. All three players had two steals for the Miners.
    “Nicole and Kindle really stood out to me off of the bench. Nicole was obvious with her tremendous shooting and a career-high in points, but she also was much improved on defense over game one. Kindle was really steady again bringing defense and a willingness to score that this team needed in the first half,” explained Russell.
    Shullsburg has a Six Rivers West game at Highland on Thursday, Dec. 10. There is not a JV game so the varsity game will begin at 7 p.m.
    “This group believes that they can compete for a conference championship and they can’t wait for the conference season to get under way,” said Russell.
    The Miners will also compete at the Pearl City Jamboree on Saturday, Dec. 12, and Monday, Dec. 14. They will play Dakota at 6:30 p.m. on Saturday and host Pearl City also at 6:30 p.m. on Monday.

Juda………… 18  26 – 44
Shullsburg… 30  37 – 67
    Juda –Jordan 4, Goecks 14, Byrne 3, Powers 4, Burkhalter 9, Kammerer 4, Dieckhoff 4, Adkins 2. Totals – 12  17-21  44.
    Shullsburg – Kindle Cook 5, McKailah Strang 2, Hattie Rennert 18, Paige Hauser 3, Nicole Teutschmann 13, Brianna Leahy 20, Cora Holland 6. Totals – 23  16-28  67.
    3-point goals– J 1 (Goecks), S 4 (Teutschmann 3, Rennert). Total fouls– J NA, S NA.