Winnebago, Pecatonica face off in battle of the mascots

By Trenten Scheidegger

CORRESPONDENT

    Last week, the Pecatonica Lady Indians made the short trip to face off with the Winnebago Lady Indians. For Pecatonica head coach Daniel Rosenstiel, it was a return home to his alma mater. Rosenstiel graduated from Winnebago in 2016. For Winnebago, they were looking to establish their identity against another tough opponent.

    On Dec. 12, Winnebago played host to Pecatonica. At the time, Pecatonica held an impressive record of 9-1. For the home team Winnebago, they were just 3-7. Despite Pecatonica looking like the clear favorites on paper, the Winnebago team knows what they were capable of. Winnebago and their head coach TJ Zambrovitz were hoping to see some of last year’s success return to the floor.

    In the first quarter, things were looking good for Winnebago. Laney Intravaia sunk a pair of first quarter three-pointers, which tied the game at 6-6. On the next possession, Izzy Burd made a layup which gave Winnebago their first lead of the day. Late in the first, freshman Grace Corl had a successful put back before going one for two at the line. In the closing moments of the opening quarter, Winnebago’s freshman helped them take a 13-9 lead into the second.

    Pecatonica showed why they are such an impressive team in the first. At one point, they had five consecutive offensive rebounds on one trip down the floor. Lauren Mellentine, who typically does her work from outside the arc, was finding success in the paint.

    In the second quarter, it was Mellentine who helped get Pecatonica going again. A pair of free throws from her brought them within two, before Kianna Degner’s first points of the day tied the game at 13-13. Winnebago would respond with a basket from Burd, but that was their final lead of the day. Pecatonica closed out the half with five straight points as they took an 18-15 advantage into the break.

    Coming out for the third, Pecatonica looked like a whole new team. Meanwhile, Winnebago experienced all too many of their early season struggles.

    Pecatonica’s Elaina Rager came out strong in the third. Rager sunk three consecutive baskets, including a put back, a steal, and score all on her own. She quickly stretched Pecatonica’s lead to 24-17. A three-pointer from Mellentine would give Pecatonica their first double digit lead as they went up to 27-17.

    Winnebago just couldn’t get anything going in the second half. Anna Palmer hit a layup midway through the third, but that was to bring a nine-point run by Pecatonica to an end. Shortly after, a three-pointer by Rager and a lay in by Payton Thomas had Pecatonica up 34-19.

    Winnebago was outscored 19-6 in the third quarter, and that all but wiped away their chances in this one. Despite a solid first half, especially on defense, Winnebago couldn’t get over their third quarter struggles. Following the game, Zambrovitz spoke about the team’s troubles coming out of the half. “That’s been kind of a thing for us right now,” he shared. “The first two minutes of the third quarter sets our tone, and right now, we haven’t been able to rise to the occasion on it. We know it, we just got to do it.”

    It’s not just the third quarter, however. “Consistently scoring.” Zambrovitz said, before explaining that, “We don’t get that score, I mean we play decent defense, but we lose our momentum when we just can’t get those easy buckets to fall.” Winnebago also struggled at the free throw line, hitting just one of their seven attempts.

    On the other hand, it was all celebrations for Pecatonica. Not only did Rosenstiel pick up a victory in his former school, but the Lady Indians earned their 10th victory of the season. Following the game, Rosenstiel spoke about getting the win at his alma mater. “Personally, it was awesome,” he said. “I know a lot of people here and there’s a lot of people who have treated me really well over the years. I had a lot of fun being here as a player and as a student. It was really nice to come here and beat a really good program.”

    Pecatonica didn’t get off to their typical hot start on offense. Part of that was because Rager was held to just four points in the opening half. She came out aggressive in the third quarter, however, and finished the day with a team leading 18 points. Rosenstiel spoke about her second half surge, saying “She really settled in. In the first half, the whole team, not just her in general, but we let them speed us up and we kind of killed our dribble instead of finishing drives to the basket. We told her in the second half, ‘You’re the best athlete on the floor. Get to the rim and good things are going to happen for us and you individually.’”

    With Pecatonica off to a 10-1 start, they are sitting right where they want to be. “Last year, we felt like we had some games we let slip. From a mental and a physical preparation, that’s one of the things we wanted to work on, especially earlier in the year. That’s a credit to our kids. I don’t know off-hand if it’s the best start, but I’m sure it’s right up there, but we’re just happy with the process of getting better every game. So far, that’s led to wins and that’s what we want to keep doing,” Rosenstiel added.