POTOSI — The Potosi girls basketball team will be paying close attention to Thursday’s Six Rivers West showdown between Shullsburg and River Ridge.
The third-place Timberwolves (13–3, 5–3 SRW) threw a wrench in Potosi’s 2018 conference championship plan when they handed the host Chieftains a 52–41 loss last Tuesday night.
As a result, Potosi (12–4, 7–2) slipped to second place and is now on the outside looking in, forced to root for Ridge to play the role of spoiler one more time.
Shullsburg (15–3, 8–1) handed the Chieftains their first conference win of the year on Jan. 12, 55–51.
River Ridge (13–3, 5–3) is most likely out of title contention with just three league games remaining, but a victory over Shullsburg would allow Potosi to climb back into a first-place tie.
The Wolves pounced early in Tuesday’s victory at Potosi, getting out to a 12–2 lead over the first seven minutes, but coach Brad Bierman’s Chieftains responded with an 8–0 run, and later grabbed a 20–18 lead on a steal and layup by junior Amber Udelhoven with 1:45 left in the half.
Ridge closed the half on a 5–2 run to take a 23–20 halftime lead despite leading scorer Skylar White on the bench the final seven minutes of the half with three fouls.
Ridge began the second half with three straight 3-pointers by White, Rachael Herrick and junior Taylor Langmeier to push the lead to 32–10. The three-point barrage sparked an 18–2 run by the Timberwolves, who led 41–22 with 6:35 to play.
The Chieftains dialed up its full court pressure, which led to a 13–2 run of their own, making it an eight-point game with 3:19 to play, 43–35, but the 19-point hole was too deep for Potosi.
Ridge made 7-of-9 from the free thrown line down the stretch and Langmeier scored twice in the lane to close out the 11-point win.
Langmeier finished with a game-high 18 points, while White added 16 for the Wolves.
Langmeier also pulled down a whopping 16 rebounds to go along with three steals, while Maria Breuer dished out fie assists and had five boards.
As a team, coach Caron Townsend’s squad made 17-of-47 (36%) shot attempts, including 6-of-18 (33%) from 3-point range. They were 12-of-15 (80%) from the free throw line, while committing 14 turnovers and coming away with eight steals.
Senior Sophie Langkamp finished with 17 points and 11 rebounds to lead the Chieftains. Senior Abby Kaiser had 16 points and six rebounds.
Friday night, Potosi lost its third game in four outings, falling to undefeated Black Hawk, the top-ranked team in Division 5, 71–48, in a Six Rivers Challenge non-conference game at South Wayne.
The Chieftains bounced back with a dominating 87–49 non-conference win over visiting Iowa–Grant (4–12) in a makeup game Saturday afternoon.
Kaiser had a monster game with 28 points, 11 rebounds, seven assists and six steals. Langkamp (17 points) and Udelhoven (14 points) also finished in double figures.
Kaiser poured in 33 points in a 71–45 non-conference victory over Southwestern (3–14) Monday night.
River Ridge followed up Tuesday night victory over Potosi with a 40-36 non-conference loss in overtime to host Barneveld as part of the Six Rivers East/West Crossover series.
In that contest, Langmeier posted a team-high 14 points, while White added 11 and Breuer six.
This past Monday night, River Ridge (5-3, 14-4) survived a scare from visiting Lancaster, but knocked down key free throws down the stretch to pull out a 37-33 victory.
Rachael Herrick came up big for the Timberwolves, finishing with 15 points on four 3-pointers, and was 3-of-4 from the free throw line in the final minute.
Langmeier added 11 points in the win, while Breuer had six points and White five, including two big free throws down the stretch.
River Ridge 52, Potosi 41
(from Tuesday, Jan. 23)
River Ridge 23 29 - 52
Potosi 20 21 - 41
River Ridge - Faith Schier 3, Skylar White 16, Taylor Langmeier 18, Allison Ploessl 6, Rachael Herrick 3, Maria Breuer 6. Totals - 17 12-15 52.
Potosi - Abby Kaiser 16, Lilly Post 2, Amber Udelhoven 4, Sophie Langkamp 17, Hannah Udelhoen 2. Totals - 14 12-18 41.
3-point goals - RR: Schier 1, White 2, Langmeier 2, Herrick 1; P: Langkamp 1. Team fouls - RR 17, P 16. Fouled out - None.
Black Hawk 71, Potosi 48
(from Friday, Jan. 26)
Potosi 25 23 - 48
Black Hawk 46 25 - 71
Potosi - Abby Kaiser 17, Brittany Horner 3, Amber Udelhoven 10, Sophie Langkamp 4, Hannah Udelhoven 14. Totals - 13 13-17 48.
Black Hawk - Hannah Herbst 3, Natalie Leuzinger 13, Hannah Butller 24, Kaylee Marty 11, Bailey Butler 15, Sydney Delzer 5. Totals - 25 15-22 71.
3-point goals - P: Amber Udelhoven 1, Hannah Udelhoven 2; BH: Leuzinger 1, H. Butler 2, Marty 1, B. Butler 2. Team fouls - P 16, BH 15. Fouled out - Langkamp (P).
Barneveld 40, River Ridge 36 (OT)
(from Friday, Jan. 26)
River Ridge 19 17 - 36
Barneveld 17 23 - 40
River Ridge - Faith Schier 2, Skylar White 11, Taylor Langmeier 14, Allison Ploessl 3, Maria Breuer 6. Totals - 13-46 7-19 36.
Barneveld - Schultz 6, Pickarts 9, Skaife 19, Spring 4, Hogan-Weier 2. Totals - 12 16-27 40
3-point goals - RR: White 1, Langmeier 2; B: None. Team fouls - RR 18, B 15. Fouled out - White (RR) Herrick (RR).
Potosi 87, Iowa-Grant 49
(from Saturday, Jan. 27)
Iowa-Grant 23 26 - 49
Potosi 54 33 - 87
Iowa-Grant - Maci Stevens 5, Katie Olson 1, Sydney Lundell 3, Lauren Harmening 2, Trinity Spurley 7, Olivia Liddicoat 22, Annie Spurley 9. Totals - 17 14-20 49.
Potosi - Abby Kaiser 28, Justice Udelhofen 2, Lilly Post 8, Brittany Horner 3, Amber Udelhoven 14, Sophie Langkamp 17, Toni Pluemer 3, Anny Kruser 3, Hannah Udelhoven 9. Totals - 33 10-13 87.
3-point goals - IG: Stevens 1; P: Kaiser 1, Horner 3, A. Udelhoven 2, Langkamp 2, Pluemer 1, Kruser 1, H. .Udelhoven 3. Team fouls - IG 10, P 17. Fouled out - H. Udelhoven (P).
Potosi 71, Southwestern 45
(from Monday, Jan. 29)
Southwestern 25 20 - 45
Potosi 35 36 - 71
Southwestern - Kailey Droessler 5, Hailey Hinman 3, Maddy Myers 12, Lexi Birkett 1, Kailee Kaiser 5, Julia Barnes 2, Abby Budden 17. Totals - 16 10-16 45.
Potosi - Abby Kaiser 31, Justice Udelhofen 3, Lilly Post 8, Brittany Horner 5, Amber Udelhofen 7, Sophie Langkamp 13, Hannah Udelhofen 4. Totals - 29 10-12 71.
3-point goals - SW: Hinman 1, Maddy Myers 2; P: Justice Udelhofen 1, Horner 1, Amber Udelhofen 1. Team fouls - SW 13, P 20. Fouled out - None.
River Ridge 37, Lancaster 33
(from Monday, Jan. 29)
Lancaster 19 14 - 33
River Ridge 22 15 - 37
Lancaster - Morelia Galvan 8, Lydia Murphy 8, Kiley Kelly 6, Brooklyn Connelly 3, Madison Straka 2, Devin Wagner 6. Totals - 14 2-6 33.
River Ridge - Skylar White 5, Taylor Langmeier 11, Rachael Herrick 15, Maria Breuer 6. Totals - 13 5-8 37.
3-point goals - L: Galvan 2, Connelly 1; RR: White 1, Langmeier 1, Herrick 4. Team fouls - L 13, RR 12. Fouled out - None.
