The Lady Hornets ended their regular season falling short, 47-49, to the Wisconsin Dells Lady Chiefs on Feb. 16.
Lady Chiefs opened up the game by putting up 2 points on the board, but a steal from Montana Groskreutz gave the Lady Hornets a chance to get to the board. Bri Buechner put up a 3-pointer to give the Lady Hornets an early 4-2 advantage in the first half. The teams were evenly matched, with the Lady Chiefs only possessing a 1-point lead for most of the half. Wisconsin Dells was only up 24-22 going into the second half.
The Lady Chiefs were able to get ahead 32-25 a few minutes into the second half. Groskreutz was able to close the deficit with a 3-pointer, with Buechner being able to score another 3 to put the Lady Hornets ahead 33-32. Things were looking up for Wautoma, with Bryn Gunderson giving the Lady Hornets a 4-point lead with another 3. The Dells were able to close the Lady Hornet’s lead to only 2-points, but Buechner put up another 3 with about 10 minutes left in the game. The Lady Hornets were on a roll, scoring a 42-36 lead with only 9 minutes left to go. The Lady Chiefs were not to be underestimated though, when Karson Meister stole the ball back to help tie the score at 42.
In the fight to the finish, the Lady Hornets fell short by only 2 points for their final regular game of the season.
Bri Buechner was the top scorer for Wautoma, with 21 points on the board. Buechner also recorded 7 rebounds. Montana Groskreutz put 9 points on the board, closely followed by Alayna Panich with 7 points. Groskreutz also recorded 5 assists while Panich had 4. Bryn Gunderson and Aspen Groskreutz each had 3 points, and Sydney Dunn ended the night with 2 points.
The Lady Hornets ended their regular season 15-9 and 6-4 in their conference. The team started round one of WIAA playoffs as the #5 seed on Feb. 21 against #12 seed Mayville.
