WEST SALEM — Senior Josie Brudos made a late 3-pointer for a lead that the West Salem High school girls basketball team turned into a 65-63 nonconference win over visiting Marshfield on Saturday.
The Panthers (10-6) won their third game in a row and avoided overtime when the Tigers missed two free throws that would have tied the game with no time on the clock.
Brudos scored 26 points and made three of her five 3-pointers in the second half for a West Salem team that leads the Coulee Conference with a 7-1 record after beating G-E-T on Friday.
Sophomore Ava Hendrickson added 17 points with nine in the second half, and sophomore Anna Witte scored 10 for the Panthers, who host Tomah on Tuesday before going back to a conference game at Westby on Thursday. West Salem leads Arcadia (6-1) by a half-game in the Coulee standings.
Melrose-Mindoro 69, Independence/Gilmanton 61
MELROSE — The Mustangs (8-9, 6-7 Dairyland-Large) picked one of their biggest victories of the season by beating the Indees.
Third-place Melrose-Mindoro lost to second-place Independence/Gilmanton by 13 points the first time around and cut the deficit between the teams to 2-and-a-half games heading down the stretch.
Senior Anna Radcliffe scored 17 points during a 46-point second half for the Mustangs and finished with a team-high 23. She made 6 of 8 free throws in the second half to help keep her team in front and has averaged 20.8 points over her past six games.
Senior teammate Cooper Zeman added 15 points — all on 3-pointers. She made three of those after halftime and has averaged 17.7 points over the past three games.
Senior Miranda Banse also scored 12 points for Melrose-Mindoro and had eight of them in the second half.
Fall Creek 66, Central 53
LA CROSSE — The RiverHawks (14-4) lost for the fourth time in five games despite a 23-point performance from junior Ellie Gillitzer against the Crickets (10-8).
Central — still fifth in Division 2 for this week’s Bound Wisconsin/Zaleski Sports media poll — continues to play without injured Eastern Illinois commit Alahnna Simpson.
Senior Emmerson Keeney and sophomore Malayah Simpson scored 10 points apiece for the RiverHawks, who play at third-place Onalaska (14-5, 5-3) in an MVC game on Tuesday. Central is 6-2 in the conference and second to Aquinas (9-0), which is one win away from clinching a share of the title.
