WIAA Regional Semifinal (Bracket)
At Eau Claire Immanuel
March 1, 2013
Eau Claire Immanuel (#2): 43 (21-3, 12-1)
McDonell Central (#3): 41 (14-10, 7-7)
NOTE: The Lady Lancers squeeked out a close one this evening with a 43-41 win over the McDonell Macks! As such the Lancers will now play in the WIAA Regional Final against Clayton, the #1 seed of the Regional, as Clayton beat Turtle Lake this evening, 44-19. This Immanuel team eagerly looks forward to this game as they believe they have unfinished business to tend to, last year's Regional Final loss to New Lisbon leaving a bitter taste in their mouths and also highly motivating them to secure the first Regional championship in Immanuel basketball. The Lancers also extend their winning streak to 17 games and their win total to 21, new uncharted territory for Immanuel basketball. Also, with the win tonight the Lancers now are an astonishing 40-9 the past two seasons! They also have four regional wins now in the past two seasons, equaling the number of regional wins they've had in their entire history prior to that!
In their previous meeting on January 24, 2013, the Lancers handily beat the Macks, 63-44. But tonight's game was a neck-and-neck game the entire way. In fact, with just a couple of minutes left in the game the Macks went ahead by three, 36-39. Just before that the Lancers had the edge with the score being 36-30. But the Macks' surge came to an end as the Lancers were able to capitalize at the charity stripe. With the score being tied 41-41 with 30 seconds left to go, Abbie Hein was fouled getting a rebound on a missed McDonell shot. She made both free throws which would be the last points of the game. Another missed McDonell shot ended up with a tied-up ball on a rebound, giving the Macks one last chance to get another shot up. They were able to get a player open for a three-pointer on an inbound play, but the ball rolled off the rim just as time expired. Players and screaming fans from the stands excitedly celebrated as victory had been secured!
For those who have followed the team through the year, it's been incredible to see how they have been prepared to stay focused at the end of this kind of game in order to pull off the win, e.g. double-overtime win over Independence and a come-from-behind win over Melrose-Mindoro. The hand of the Lord has truly blessed!
Box Score and Team Stats on WSN (To be updated ...)
Box Score and Team Stats on MaxPreps (To be updated ...)
Event Page and Team Stats on USA Today HS Sports (To be updated ...)
Game play-by-play (To be updated ...)
Shot Charts (Both Teams) (To be updated ...)
Shot Charts (Immanuel Players) (To be updated ...)
Shot Charts (Opponent Players) (To be updated ...)
Game Video (HD Link): (To be updated ...)
See sports highlight video from WEAU.
(Immanuel highlight, Part 2 Girls Basketball, at the 4:20 min. mark)
See sports highlight video from WQOW.
(Immanuel highlight at the 1:48 min. mark, see Sports Overtime - Friday)
From Prep Roundup in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram:
From Prep Statistics in the Eau Claire Leader-Telegram:(2) Immanuel Lutheran 43, (3) Chippewa Falls McDonell 41: Abbie Hein scored 11 points to lead a balanced Lancers attack.Jalen Knowlton, who scored a game-high 14 points for the Macks, had a look at a potential game-winning 3 as time expired.
(2) Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran 43, (3) Chippewa Falls McDonell 41
McDonell — Jalen Knowlton 14, Sid Schemenauer 8, Lexi Ralle 6, Tessa McChesney 9, Gabby Geisler 4. Totals (FGM FT-FTA TP): 14 10-12 41.
Immanuel Lutheran — Abbie Hein 11, Emily Hein 4, Rachel Schaser 8, Hannah Meyer 3, Laura Lisak 9, Becca Nauman 2, Abbey Sydow 6. Totals: 14 13-22 43.
McDonell 7 11 13 10 — 41Immanuel Lutheran 11 10 11 11 — 43
3-point goals: McDonell 3 (Knowlton 2, McChesney), Immanuel Lutheran 2 (A. Hein, E. Hein). Total fouls: McDonell 20, Immanuel Lutheran 12. Records: McDonell 14-10, 7-7; Immanuel Lutheran 21-3, 12-1.
From the Chippewa Valley Herald:
3-1 Girls Hoops Playoff Roundup: McDonell girls fall to Immanuel in regional semis, 43-41
EAU CLAIRE — The McDonell girls basketball team held Abbie Hein in check on Friday night.
It just wasn’t quite enough.
Hein scored 11 points, well below her season average, but No. 2 seed Eau Claire Immanuel Lutheran still had enough gas in the tank to pull out a 43-41 victory over No. 3 seed McDonell in a Division 5 regional semifinal game.
“We had our chances, we had several good chances (at the end),” McDonell coach Shannon Tanzer said. “We took good shots and they didn’t fall.”
Jalen Knowlton led McDonell (14-10) with 14 points, while Tessa McChesney had nine. Sydney Schemenauer chipped in with eight points and Lexi Raihle had six.
Apart from Hein’s 11, Laura Lisak and Rachel Schaser had 10 and eight points, respectively, for Eau Claire Immanuel (21-3).
With the loss, the careers of McDonell seniors Lexi Raihle and Gabby Geissler come to an end.
“I really want to thank Gabby and Lexi for everything that they’ve done for the last three years,” Tanzer said. “It’s been a really fun ride with them.”
The Lancers head to Clayton on Saturday to take on the top-seeded Bears in a regional final contest.
EAU CLAIRE IMMANUEL LUTHERAN 43, MCDONELL 41
McDonell 7 11 13 9 — 41
Immanuel 11 10 13 10 — 43
MCDONELL: Knowlton 14, Schemenauer 8, Raihle 6, McChesney 9, Geissler 2. (14 10-13 20 41)
EAU CLAIRE IMMANUEL: A. Hein 11, Schaser 8, Meyer 3, Lisak 10, Naumann 2, Sydow 6, E. Hein 3. (13 13-23 15 43)
3-Point Goals: McDonell (3): Knowlton 2, McChesney 1. Eau Claire Immanuel (3): A. Hein 1, E. Hein 1, Lisack 1.
Fouled out: McDonell: None. Eau Claire Immanuel: None
Next Up: WIAA Regional Final: Sat., Mar. 2, 7:00 pm - #2 Immanuel @ #1 Clayton (map) (MaxPreps pre-game) (WSN Preview) (USA Today) (WIAA Tournament)
Varsity Pics: (Pics at end are blurry due to photographer error, but shared due to the excitement of the moment)
