Parr gains upper hand on friend Ott

By Steve Beaudry
Leader-Telegram staff

CHIPPEWA FALLS -- The worst part about Friday night's basketball game, for Larissa Parr, was having to see Chippewa Falls senior Angie Ott's dour facial expression immediately afterward.

When Parr finally reached Ott in the postgame handshake line, the Eau Claire North senior paused for a few extra seconds to console her friendly rival with a soft pat on the back.

"Angie's such a super-nice person that it makes it hard to beat her," Parr said after helping the Huskies pocket a 43-29 Big Rivers Conference victory. "I'm so glad I've gotten to know her. She's a great friend."

Parr and Ott, who'd been fierce rivals from middle school through last season, forged a tight friendship this summer when they were teammates on a Wisconsin AAU all-star team that traveled across the country.

Through their AAU involvement both earned NCAA Division I basketball scholarships -- Parr to Boston University, Ott to Wright State University in Dayton, Ohio.

"For all those years we didn't really know each other -- other than knowing we were both really competitive," said Parr, who scored 10 points Friday in helping North (5-1, 10-2) notch its fourth straight win. "Things got pretty heated between us when we were freshmen.

"Some of her friends made a sign and brought it to a game when we played Chippewa. It trash-talked me -- said something about Angie being better than me. That got me mad.

"But now we hang out together on the weekends and e-mail each other all the time."

Ott, who'd averaged 16.0 points per game and was coming off back-to-back 20-point outings, had a frustrating game Friday for the Cardinals (3-3, 8-4). Early foul trouble kept her on the bench for 6 minutes, 54 seconds of the first half. And North forward Kricket Whyte's ravenous defense kept Ott scoreless until 1:57 had elapsed in the fourth quarter.

"(Ott is) a challenge to play against," said Whyte, who had eight points and four rebounds. "When you think she's gonna shoot a 3, she'll drive. When she looks like she's getting ready to drive, she'll pull up and shoot."

By the time Ott finally broke free of Whyte's muzzle and found her rhythm, North led 35-16. Ott finished with a game-high 11 points.

"Oh, Judas, they were focused on defense," Chippewa Falls coach Jeff Olson said of the Huskies, who limited the Cardinals to 4-for-28 field-goal shooting through three quarters. "We've got to learn that when Angie's on the bench or having an off night that we've still got to play the game. Someone needs to grab the reins for us and step up."

Several players stepped up for North, led by senior guard Lindsey Rongstad, who had eight rebounds and eight steals. Senior forward Andrea Thorsness and junior guard Anne Connell scored 10 points apiece in helping North remain tied with Eau Claire Memorial in second place in the Big Rivers standings, one game behind Hudson.

"This was our best game, defensively, all year," said North coach Dan Sippel, whose team forced 26 turnovers. "We gave ourselves some nice chances on offense, but we didn't finish them well. That's something we need to work on."

EAU CLAIRE NORTH (43)

FG-A FT-A TP: Anne Connell 3-7 4-5 10, Lindsey Rongstad 0-6 0-0 0, Kricket Whyte 4-8 0-2 8, Andrea Thorsness 5-6 0-0 10, Larissa Parr 5-15 0-6 10, Heather Dekan 0-1 0-0 0, Amanda Eisold 2-4 1-2 5, Heather Quilling 0-1 0-0 0, Angie Ziehme 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 19-48 5-15 43.

CHIPPEWA FALLS (29)

Danni Borneman 0-3 0-0 0, Sally Welbourn 0-10 2-4 2, Andrea Olson 1-4 2-2 4, Sarah Ott 2-6 0-0 6, Angie Ott 4-11 0-0 11, Katie Boettcher 1-1 0-0 2, Emily Krumenauer 0-2 1-2 1, Tara Johnson 0-0 0-0 0, Virginia Struthers 1-1 1-2 3, Amy Reit 0-0 0-0 0, Natalie Licht 0-0 0-0 0, Jean Mayer 0-0 0-0 0. Totals 9-38 6-10 29.

Eau Claire North 10 11 14 8 -- 43

Chippewa Falls 5 6 2 16 -- 29

3-point goals: North 0-3 (Parr 0-1, Connell 0-1, Quilling 0-1), Chippewa Falls 5-12 (A. Ott 3-5, S. Ott 2-4, Borneman 0-1, Olson 0-3). Rebounds: North 26 (Rongstad 8, Whyte 4, Eisold 4), Chippewa Falls 40 (Borneman 6, S. Ott 5, A. Ott 4). Fouls: North 12, Chippewa Falls 17. Turnovers: North 14, Chippewa Falls 26.

RECORDS: North 5-1, 10-2; Chippewa Falls 3-3, 8-4.