Mineral Point girls take down Barneveld 60-47Mineral Point girls take down Barneveld 60-47Mineral Point girls take down Barneveld 60-47

By John Dalton

Mineral Point’s Ava Ingwell connected on her first 3-point shot to start the game, the Pointers drilled seven of them in the first half, and they never trailed in the game Saturday at Barneveld in a solid performance defeating the Golden Eagles 60-47.  

Barneveld’s Izzy Durst hit a shot after Ingwell’s three making it 3-2, then Pointer Sadie Miller hit a 3-point shot.  Eagle Aleea Norton hit a 3-point bucket to make it 6-5 Mineral Point, and that is as close as it got in this contest.  Ingwell hit three, 3-point shots, and Sophie and Sadie Miller each made two in the first half, as the Pointers would go in at halftime with a 31-16 lead.  

The start of the second half saw the Pointers pick up where they left off, this time Jadyn Schultz drilled a corner 3-point shot to put the Eagles up by 18.  But Coach Jim Myers’ team fought back.  Hannah Esch sparked the Eagles with a three-ball from deep, and after a Mineral Point missed basket, she found Norton in the lane for a bucket.  The Eagles forced a turnover and Durst passed to Rowan Valcheff on a fast break for a layup, then Durst drove the lane for a bucket and Barneveld’s 9-0 run cut the lead down to 34-25.  

Sadie Miller stopped the run with a jumper for the Pointers, but on its next possession, Esch drilled another of her four 3-pointers on the night, cutting the lead to 36-28.  Then Schultz got hot for Mineral Point as she hit the next six points for the Pointers. She scored 15 second half points and led the Pointers with 19 total for the game.  

But Barneveld made another run, this time Durst stole the ball and took it the distance for a bucket, and Esch hit another 3-point shot, cutting the lead back to eight again, 44-36 with eight minutes left in the game.  But the Pointers did not let the Eagles get any closer.  Maddy Kabat drove the lane for a bucket, and on its next possession, Schultz found Sadie Miller for another 3-point hoop, increasing the Mineral Point lead.  

The teams would exchange shots for the balance of the game.  Durst scored 12 of her game-high 21 points in the second half.  

“We just played hard from start-to-finish,” said Mineral Point Head Coach Merrill Brunson.  “We’ve been talking this year about putting two halves together, and we knew we weren’t going to shoot as well in the second half as we did the first, and they made some runs, but we kept our composure and played pretty smart basketball,” he said.  

“Yeah, they came out and shot the ball really well, they were more ready to play than we were,” said Barneveld Head Coach Jim Myers following the contest.  “We had a long week off and I think it showed as far as getting ready, but they’re a good ball team, coached up well,. Those kids knew what they needed to do and they made the shots when they had them.  We had a lot of good looks; we just couldn’t put it in the basket.”

“Mineral Point did a nice job of finding the open person, but we had  people that just didn’t have a good night shooting and that reflects. The whole team starts to struggle a little bit at that point, but we made a couple runs in the second half but we just couldn’t get over that last hump. But take nothing away from them, they are going to be a good ball club and a hard out down the line,” Myers said.  

“Schultz had a phenomenal game for us tonight, it was nice to see her see the ball go through the hoop as she’s been playing fantastic basketball for us,” said Brunson.  “She’s been getting good looks, but her shots just have not gone down, so, I was really happy for her tonight.”

Brunson concluded with, “We knew that Barneveld is as well-coached as anyone, and we knew we would have to do it together as a team, and they executed really well tonight.”

Mineral Point hosted Cuba City Tuesday night and you can find the results in this week’s paper.  The Pointers travel to Iowa-Grant on Friday evening.  Barneveld played Albany/Monticello Tuesday night, and you can find the results in this week’s paper, and on Friday they will host Shullsburg.  

For video highlights of the Mineral Point vs. Barneveld game, check out the Chronicle and The Democrat’s Facebook page.  

Box Score

Mineral Point 31 – 29 – 60

Barneveld       16 – 31 – 47

Mineral Point (fg-ft-tp); Jaydn Schultz 6-6-19, Ava Ingwell 5-4-17, Sadie Miller 4-2-13, Sophie Miller 2-0-6, Maddy Kaat 2-1-5.

3-pointers; Ingwell 3, Sadie Miller 3, Sophie Miller 2, Jaydn Schultz 1.

Barneveld (fg-ft-tp); Izzy Durst 9-3-21, Hannah Esch 4-2-14, Aleea Norton 2-3-8, Erin Lasse 1-0-2, Rowan Valcheff 1-0-2.

3-pointers; Esch 4, Norton 1.