1999/2000 Game Results Last Updated: February 23, 2000

Chi-Hi Ends Long Playoff Drought.

February 22, 2000  


STUART GROSKREUTZ / THE CHIPPEWA HERALD
Chippewa Falls senior Tina Balsiger drives around Lindsey Gottschalk of Wausau West during Tuesday’s WIAA Division 1 playoff game at the Cards’ gym.

THE CHIPPEWA HERALD
     Members of the Chippewa Falls girls basketball team do not remember the program’s last playoff victory. They weren’t born yet.
     Chi-Hi jumped out to an early lead Tuesday night and held off Wausau West 42-30 in a WIAA Division 1 regional game at the Cards’ gym. It is believed to be first postseason triumph since 1977, according to coach Jeff Olson.
     Making the victory even more special was that it came against a talented West squad that entered with a 15-5 record and features 6-foot-3 senior post player Julie Meyer, who has accepted a scholarship to play at Division I Valporaiso next year.
     “That’s a long time between playoff wins,” Olson said. “I’m pretty happy right now because we beat a good team.”
     Chippewa Falls (14-7) moves on to face D.C. Everest in a regional championship game on Saturday at Wausau West. Game time is 1:30 p.m.
     The Cardinals jumped out to a 10-4 first-quarter lead and pushed the lead to nine points at halftime. Every time the Warriors, who have been ranked in the Associated Press state poll much of the season, appeared to get something going Chi-Hi had the answer.
     Most often that answer came in the form of junior Angie Ott, who led all scorers with 19 points. Ott also pulled down nine rebounds and was a disruptive force on defense as well.
     Sally Welbourn, Danille Borneman and Steph Hayes helped the Cardinals with some timely scoring in the first half after Ott was whistled for her second foul with over three minutes remaining in the opening period.
     Sophomore post players Natalie Licht and Emily Krumenauer were also credited with keeping Meyer from breaking loose with a big game. Meyer finished with 15 points, which is under her season average of 17 points per contest.
     “Defense and rebounding wins ballgames and we didn’t give them a lot of second shots or a lot of open looks at the basket,” Olson said. “Even when we don’t make a lot of shots, we still play good defense.
     “I was real pleased with the effort on Meyer. She didn’t have the huge night against us that she is capable of having.”
     The Cardinals, and senior Tina Balsiger in particular, also put the clamps on senior guard Lindsey Gottschalk, who was held to five points.
     “She’s a good player and as soon as I heard about what a tough kid she was, I said ‘Tina, she will be yours,’” Olson said. “That was probably as big a key as anything, holding her to five points. I don’t think they had a great night from the outside, but I also think we played a part in that. They didn’t get many open looks.”
     Balsiger and Hayes are the only seniors in the lineup for Chi-Hi and Olson said they came through in what could have been their final game. Hayes finished with six rebounds and dished out four assists.
     “I’m really proud of my seniors,” Olson said. “They did all of the little things.
     “Overall, we stressed boxing out and not giving them second and third shots. Our kids boxed out and did a good job of keeping them away from the boards.”
     The report card on Chi-Hi did contain an unsatisfactory grade in the free throw shooting department, where the Cardinals connected on just 9 of 19 attempts.
     “If you would have told me we would shoot like that from the line and win the game I would have been very surprised,” Olson said. “If we shoot that way from the line against D.C. Everest we’ll be in trouble. Free throws were probably the only real disappointment of the night.”
    
     WAUSAU WEST (30)
     Cati Denfeld 0 0-0 1 0, Shannon Gottschalk 2 0-1 4 4, Jennie McEvoy 1 0-0 1 2, Lindsey Gottschalk 1 3-8 5 5, Julie Meyer 7 1-4 1 15, Katie Line 0 0-0 2 0, Sheila Zingler 1 0-0 3 2, Rebecca Hanson 1 0-0 4 2. Totals: 13 4-13 21.
     CHIPPEWA FALLS (42)
     Sally Welbourn 3 1-2 0 7, Danielle Borneman 3 0-3 2 6, Steph Hayes 2 3-5 2 8, Tina Balsiger 0 2-2 3 2, Angie Ott 8 3-7 4 19, Natalie Licht 0 0-0 2 0. Totals: 16 9-19 13.
    
     Wausau West 4 8 9 9 —30
     Chippewa Falls 10 11 10 11 —42
     3-pointers — CF (1): Hayes. Fouled out — WW: L. Gottschalk.