1999/2000 News Last Updated: March 2, 2000

Girls Basketball

Double trouble

Planert, Robinson seem to save their best for Hudson

By Steve Beaudry
Leader-Telegram staff

Her basketball uniform was covered in sweat, and anxiety creased her forehead.

The pain shooting through both of her legs from preseason injuries made walking a chore -- much less running, dribbling and playing defense.

Emilee Planert

Nicki Robinson

But, with foul trouble hampering her Eau Claire North teammates, the Huskies’ lead down to nothing and the clock ticking away, the 5-foot-8 point guard knew she had to have tunnel vision.

She had to tune out the mushrooming delirium of the packed Hudson High School gymnasium. She had to ignore those ominous, bed-sheet-sized banners staring down at her from the cement wall behind North’s basket.

She had to control the game. She had to help the Huskies make history.

Which she did. She scored 15 points, grabbed eight rebounds, served as North’s emotional fulcrum and ensured the Huskies would hand No. 2-ranked Hudson its first -- and only -- Big Rivers Conference loss of the season.

"She" is Nicki Robinson … and Emilee Planert.

Whoa.

"Eerie" does not do justice to the similarities between the performances of Robinson and Planert, and the circumstances surrounding their efforts, separated by 391 days.

"Weird," Robinson said while standing in the corridor outside North’s locker room in Hudson after Planert nearly duplicated her feat this year on -- how fitting is this? -- the eve of Groundhog Day.

"But I guess it isn’t too weird," Robinson said. "I mean, we are a lot alike."

True enough. Both are seniors. Both stand 5-foot-8. Both are take-control guards. Both are as quick with a smile as with a pass or a steal.

Both helped lead their softball teams to state-tournament berths last season. Both have sidestepped potentially season-ending injuries.

Both are as driven in the classroom as they are in their athletic endeavors.

And both would like nothing more than to help the Huskies put another chink in Hudson’s sturdy armor Friday night when the teams square off in a WIAA Division 1 Marshfield Sectional semifinal game in Menomonie.

You won’t hear them say as much, though. At least, you won’t read here about them saying as much. First-year Huskies coach Dan Sippel made his players off limits to the Leader-Telegram this week, guarding against the Raiders unearthing any bulletin-board material.

Hudson doesn’t figure to need any more emotional firewood.

The Raiders (20-2) have lost two Big Rivers Conference games since December 1994. Both have been to North -- on Jan. 5, 1999 (thanks largely to Robinson) and on Feb. 1, 2000 (Planert’s breakout game).

The Raiders won the 1998 WIAA Division 1 state title. Their attempt at a repeat was shot down by North in a regional final last season.

For the Huskies (17-4) to end the Raiders’ season again, North likely will need the steady Robinson and the flashy Planert to work in concert.

At this time last year, that wouldn’t have been possible.

Until this school year, when Planert transferred to North from Altoona, Robinson and Planert were "rival friends," according Brent Robinson, Nicki’s father.

"They’d gone against each other in a lot of sports, primarily basketball, since they were fifth-graders," Brent Robinson said. "They weren’t buddy-buddy by any means, but I certainly think they had a mutual respect for each other’s abilities."

Planert dominated at the WIAA Division 3 level in basketball for three seasons with Altoona, and last year began seeking options to further her athletic challenges for her senior year.

The thought of attending North appealed to her. But, before committing to transfer, she took a classroom-to-classroom tour during a school day last May.

Robinson was chosen as her guide.

"That just shows the type of person Nicki is," Sippel said. "She gets along with everybody. If someone doesn’t get along with Nicki, it’s that person’s own fault.

"In a way, if Emilee came to North, it might seem like Nicki would stand to lose the most athletically -- in terms of playing time.

"Nicki didn’t care. She went out of her way to sell Emilee on what North’s got to offer."

Even with Robinson’s flawless salesmanship, there was no guarantee she and Planert would play basketball together this season.

Following the Huskies’ season-opening game, stress fractures were discovered in Planert’s left fibula and right foot. She missed nine games and was used sparingly in three others.

For Robinson, swatting the injury bug has been her most daunting challenge in high school athletics. A deep thigh bruise and a concussion kept her out of two games this season, and … well, listing her other injuries from the past two seasons would come close to filling this page.

"Earlier this season, Nicki says to me, ‘If the paper keeps writing about my injuries, it’s going to scare away the college coaches,’ " her father said, laughing. "Actually, from what we’ve heard from college coaches, they admire her for being able to bounce back so well."

Beaudry can be reached evenings at 833-9212 or (800) 236-7077 or at steve.beaudry@ecpc.com.