MADISON — For 2 1/2 quarters, Lyons Decatur Northeast entertained thoughts of upsetting EPPJ in the finals of the Madison Holiday Tournament. Then, suddenly, those thoughts vanished as the Wolfpack pulled away for a 54 to 37 victory.
The victory marked Coach Randy Eisenhauer’s 300th as a basketball coach, playing out like many of his past victories – a defensive effort which eventually took away many scoring chances. And, at the other end of the court, finding a way to put points on the board.
“We are going to play in your face,” Eisenhauer said. “We’re going to try with our press, our defense, and then we’re going to get out and run … We were running the first half. We just couldn’t make a layup. We’re losing the ball, you know, everywhere. So it’s just like I told the girls at half, we were going 110 miles an hour, but our body was only going 60 miles an hour. So I just told us relax. We were down two at halftime, but I said we missed how many free throws? I think we were 4-17 from the free throw line first half. But they stayed the course. That’s what I’m just gonna get they stayed the course. This year, greatness takes grind. We had a grind out win tonight. So I’m pretty proud of all of them.”
With 5:05 left in the third quarter, the teams were tied at 24-all. Then, Mady Kurpgeweit did something the team had struggled to do, made consecutive free throws. In the first half they made just four of 17 free throws which allowed the Cougars to take a 22 to 20 lead at intermission.
After Kurpgeweit’s free throws, Braelyn Martinsen took over as she had six points and Elizabeth Moser added four, including a buzzer beater at the end of the quarter.
….see more at this week’s Elgin Review.
