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Memorial too tall an order for Craig

MADISON — Size does matter, after all.

The Janesville Craig High School girls’ basketball team hung with Madison Memorial—a team that boasts five six-footers—for the better part of three quarters, but eventually the Spartans stood taller in a 47-38 Big Eight Conference victory on Friday night at Memorial.

Craig (6-8, 5-7 Big Eight) guard Kelsey Kennedy’s three-pointer with two seconds left on the clock broke up a tight game, propelling Craig to a 31-27 lead at the end of the third quarter. The Cougars’ full-court press was giving the senior-laden Spartans fits, constantly creating turnovers all over the court.

But Memorial (4-9, 3-8) finally cracked through Craig’s defense and broke out a 13-2 run to begin the fourth quarter, thanks to aggressive interior play by Alicia Evans and Taryn Olson, who combined for 14 second-half points.

“Our girls were having a spacing issue, so at halftime we talked about finding the angle cuts,” Memorial coach Patrick Jost said. “It seemed in the fourth quarter, all of a sudden, the light bulb went on. Our girls finally understood coming to the ball, because Craig did an awesome job of cutting off our passing lanes.”

Craig center Anne Morgan—who, along with Emily Hinman, stands tallest for the Cougars at 5-foot-11—committed her third foul just two minutes into the second quarter. But Craig carried on without its leading scorer, getting a couple inside baskets from Hinman to take a one-point advantage into halftime.

Then when Morgan returned to get two baskets in the second half, she picked up a controversial blocking foul—her fourth—that had Marsden steaming over the call, and Morgan headed back to the bench.

“We would get her going, then she sits down, then get her going, sits down,” Craig coach Mark Marsden said. “She sat probably more than half the game, we tried to protect her in the back of the zone, but even there she took a charge. It’s tough, very tough.”

Morgan was productive when she was on the floor—leading Craig with 11 points—but when she had no fouls to give, she was forced to play with extreme caution on the defensive end, allowing Evans and Olson to get to the rim for easy baskets.

“In practice, we always talk about getting the ball to the post,” Evans said. “If their hands are high, we go low … we’ve been practicing that really well.”

Morgan did foul out with 35 seconds remaining, after what appeared to be an uncalled backcourt violation on the Spartans; she and Marsden were assessed technical fouls arguing the call.

“That’s my first technical in 31 years,” Marsden said. “The (ref’s) got big ears, I guess.”

Memorial guard Mandie Wiedholz hit seven of her 13 free-throw attempts in the fourth quarter.

“Memorial’s got the size on us big-time … our kids competed really hard against them,” Marsden said. “It kind of got away from us in the fourth quarter, got a little wild at the end … you put them to the line 32 times to our 12, it’s kind of hard to win.”

MEMORIAL 47, CRAIG 38

Craig (38)—Kennedy, 1-1-4; Morgan, 4-3-11; W Storbakken, 1-0-2; Hinman, 2-1-5; Hamilton, 4-0-10; Marshick, 2-2-6. Totals: 14-7-38.

Memorial (47)—Wiedholz, 1-9-12; Koykkar, 2-1-6; Evans, 4-3-11; Olson, 5-2-12; Golz, 1-1-4; Patterson 1-0-2. Totals: 14-16-47.

Janesville Craig 6 11 14 7—38

Madison Memorial 12 4 11 20—47

Three-point goals—Craig 3 (Kennedy, Hamilton 2), Memorial 3 (Wiedholz, Koykkar, Golz) Free throws missed—Craig 5, Memorial 16. Total fouls—Craig 20, Memorial 15. Fouled out—Anne Morgan.

Sophomores—Craig 42, Memorial 27.