The Luther and West Salem girls basketball teams both earned a share of the Coulee Conference championship on Thursday.
The Knights beat G-E-T 77-38 and moved with the Panthers up into a four-way tie for the title after Viroqua beat Arcadia 73-60. Those two games left Luther, West Salem, Arcadia and Viroqua all tied with 9-3 records.
It is Luther’s first piece of a conference championship since 2008, and it is West Salem’s sixth in a row.
Sophomore Natalie Hackbarth made a pair of 3-pointers and scored a team-high 23 points for the Knights (15-9) in their sixth victory in seven games.
Sophomore Brinley Schmitz added 11 points and sophomore Tessa Gloede 10 for Luther. Schmitz scored all of her points in the first half, and Hackbarth had 12 of hers in the second.
Onalaska 69, West Salem 31
ONALASKA — The Panthers (13-9) didn’t win on the night they won a piece of their sixth straight championship.
The Hilltoppers (18-6) made 13 3-pointers and allowed West Salem just 10 second-half points on the way to winning their fourth game in a row.
Sophomore Kayla Ketelhut made four 3-pointers and scored a team-high 23 points for Onalaska. Junior Olivia Passehl made five and finished with 15 points, and junior Finley Walters buried two and scored eight points.
Sophomores Ava Hendrickson and Anna Witte each scored 10 points for the Panthers, who played without Josie Brudos.
Aquinas 76, Central 38
LA CROSSE — The Blugolds (22-2) — ranked fifth in Division 3 by the Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports media poll — completed an unbeaten MVC championship season and extended their MVC winning streak to 126 games.
Senior Sammy Davis finished with 29 points, 11 rebounds and five steals for Aquinas, which used a 17-0 run in the first half to separate for good. Sophomore Ella Hargrove scored eight of those points for the Blugolds.
The second-place RiverHawks (18-6, 9-3) were led by senior Alahnna Simpson’s 10 points and senior Chloe Ackerman’s nine.
For more on this game, find a separate story posted on the site.
Holmen 61, Logan 14
HOLMEN — The Vikings (16-8, 7-5 MVC) clinched a winning conference record and outscored the Rangers (5-19, 1-11) 30-4 in the first half at the Bernie L. Ferry Fieldhouse.
Senior Macy Kline made five 3-pointers and scored 19 points to lead Holmen, which also received 18 points from senior Charley Casey.
Kline scored 11 of her points and Casey 10 of hers in the second half as the Vikings closed out their regular season with three straight victories.
Caledonia 88, La Crescent-Hokah 44
CALEDONIA — The fourth-seeded Warriors advanced to a Section 1AA quarterfinal against fifth-seeded Winona Cotter on Monday by beating the 13th-seeded Lancers.
Senior Aubrie Klug scored 31 points and reached 2,000 for her career to lead Caledonia, which plays Cotter at the Mayo Civic Arena in a 7:30 p.m. tipoff.
Senior Nicole Banse added 16 points, freshman Ashlyn Reinhart 12, and Jessica Stendel and Maya Morey eight each for the Warriors, who made 11 3-pointers and had a 55-22 lead by the end of the first half.
Eleva-Strum 77, Melrose-Mindoro 45
STRUM — The Mustangs (11-13, 9-11 Dairyland-Large) found themselves in a 24-point hole by the end of the first half against the Cardinals (24-0), who are ranked first in Division 5.
Senior Calysta Bautch scored a team-high 20 points with 10 in each half, and seniors Anna Radcliffe and Cooper Zeman added 10 apiece for Melrose-Mindoro. Zeman made both of her team’s 3-pointers.
