ONALASKA — It took the Onalaska Luther High School girls basketball team 6 minutes, 15 seconds to erase an eight-point deficit in the second half of a nonconference game against visiting Onalaska on Tuesday.
It wasn’t easy.
So when the Hilltoppers hit a 3-pointer from the corner to take back the lead with 32.1 seconds left, there was probably some question as to whether the Knights could respond.
While it’s easier to come back from a point down that eight, Luther had something to prove and did it when junior Kayla Schiebel turned a pass from Allie Zittel into a three-point play, and senior Macie Neumeister had a steal and hit two free throws down the stretch in a 45-41 victory over its city rival.
“We were down seven at the half, and they went on a little run, but we have a lot of faith in each other,” said Neumeister, who became her program’s all-time leader in assists on Tuesday. “We talked, and I think our communication was good i the first half but better in the second.”
The Hilltoppers (0-1) were held to 12 second-half points and made just one shot after senior Tatum Walters hit a 3-pointer for a 38-30 lead with 8:30 left. Onalaska’s attack became much more deliberate after building the lead, but the Knights (1-1) limited good looks at the basket the rest of the game to successfully bounce back from a 54-22 loss to Bangor in a season opener.
The Hilltoppers didn’t score again until Finley Walters knocked down a 3 from the left corner for a 41-40 lead with 32.1 seconds remaining.
Zittel passed up an open 3-pointer on the ensuing possession but made a nice pass to a cutting Schiebel who watched the ball dance around the rim and in with 16.8 seconds on the clock for her second basket of the night. A free throw followed when a foul was whistled on the play.
The Knights played active defense the entire game. That continued when several players collapsed into the lane to protect against an inbounds pass to Natalie Marso with 4.7 seconds to go. Neumeister came down with the ball and hit two free throws at the other end to seal the victory.
“I think when she struggles is when she tries to do one thing,” Luther coach Ryan Svendsen said of Neumeister, who had 11 points, eight steals, four assists and four rebounds. “She can do so many things like she did tonight. When she does that, the assists come, the buckets come, the steals come, and she just adds on to everything.”
Tatum Walters scored a game-high eight points for Onalaska, and Finley Walters added seven points and seven rebounds.
Zittel scored a game-high 15 points for Luther, and freshman Brinley Schmitz hit six key baskets for 12. Schmitz received plenty of opportunities in the lane and scored her points in two stretches — one in the first half and one in the second.
Schmitz hit two straight shots to get the Knights within 38-36 and finished with a team-high seven rebounds.
“In our first game, she was in spots but didn’t convert,” Svendsen said of Schmitz. “She had some chances at the offensive end and showed good hands and caught it clean and finished.”
