NEILLSVILLE GIRLS BASKETBALL LOCKS UP ASSUMPTION

Neillsville coach John Gaier addresses his team during a timeout Monday in the Warriors' win at Wisconsin Rapids Assumption. (Zaleski Sports photo)

Zaleski Sports

WISCONSIN RAPIDS – Neillsville used a strong first half to build a big lead and held on to defeat Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 47-35 in a nonconference matchups among state-ranked girls basketball teams Monday night at Assumption High School.

Neillsville, ranked eighth in the most recent Wissports.net Division 4 state coaches poll, rolled out to a 27-15 lead by halftime and played even the rest of the way to earn the road victory and improve to 14-2 this season.

“I was really happy with our defense,” Neillsville coach John Gaier said. “This is a really good team. Assumption plays really well and they play fast. One of the things that we talked about was that we didn’t want to turn this into a sprint, a full-court sprint. We wanted to break it down and be able to play really well in the half court. I thought defensively we really did that.”

Paris Opelt and Delaney Rochester each made a pair of 3-pointers and scored 10 points to lead the way for the Warriors. All of Rocheter’s points came in the second half.

Neillsville's Amelia Trunkel attempts a free throw during the Warriors' game at Wisconsin Rapids Assumption on Monday. (Zaleski Sports photo)

“My teammates were giving me the ball and I was trying to score, trying to be a threat,” Rochester said. “In the first half I wasn’t looking to score a lot, but in the second half I knew that I had to do something to help my team.”

Sarah Shaw and Ainara Sainz de Rozas both scored 11 points for Assumption, ranked fourth in the Division 5 state poll. The Royals fall to 14-3 as they see their eight-game winning streak snapped.

Neillsville hosts Greenwood for a Cloverbelt Conference East Division on Tuesday, and Assumption plays a Marawood Conference South Division game at home against Edgar on Thursday. Both games will be live at zaleskisports.com.

Warriors 47, Royals 35

Neillsville 27 20 - 47

Assumption 15 20 - 35

NEILLSVILLE (47): Delaney Rochester 3 2-2 10, Ava Mortenson 0 0-0 0, Emma Moseley 3 2-2 8, Amelia Trunkel 2 3-4 9, Kylie Boyer 0 2-2 2, Paris Opelt 4 0-0 10, Kati Mayer 2 0-0 4, Paige Voight 2 0-0 4. FG: 16. FT: 9-11. 3-pointers: 6 (Opelt 2, Rochester 2, Trunkel 2). Record: 14-2.

ASSUMPTION (35): Sarah Shaw 4 0-0 11, Ainara Sainz de Rozas 5 0-0 11, Addi Vollert 0 0-0 0, Kendall Duellman 0 1-2 1, Izzy Jungwirth 1 0-0 3, Kayla Kerkman 1 0-0 3, Cristin Casey 0 0-0 0, Anna Schooley 3 0-0 6, Maleia Kolo 0 0-0 0. FG: 14. FT: 1-2. 3-pointers: 6 (Shaw 3, Sainz de Rozas 1, Jungwirth 1, Kerkman 1). Record: 14-3.