Lady Buffaloes compete in annual holiday tournament

by Bailey Van Den Heuvel, student writer

Over the holiday break, both of the Mondovi basketball teams made their way to their respective holiday tournaments.

Our girls headed to Bloomer to kick the tournament off by facing up against the then-undefeated Durand Panthers.

The Buffaloes struggled against the strong Panthers’ unrelenting pressure, resulting in the 70-29 defeat.

Leading the way for Mondovi were Mattie Mahlum with eight points, Amanda Rud with six points and Makenzy Christopherson and Sam Wulff with four points apiece.

The girls went home and got some rest before heading back the next day to play the aggressive Bloomer Blackhawks. 

The Buffaloes played very close with Bloomer. The scoreboard showed a difference of seven points, 17-10, at the end of the first quarter. The Blackhawks managed to build up more of a lead by the end of the first half, leading 34-21. 

The ladies still kept their fire in the second half, knowing that it was anyone’s ball game, and fought for another 18 points during the remaining 16 minutes in the game. Yet Mondovi was no match for Bloomer, and the Blackhawks kept their lead and defeated the Buffaloes 62-39.

Mahlum put away 15 points for the Lady Buffaloes that night, followed by freshman Haley Poeschel with seven points and Christopherson with six.

The girls travel to Elk Mound for a Dunn-St. Croix Conference game on Thursday, Jan. 8, and then play in a non-conference match-up versus Augusta on Saturday, Jan. 10. The girls will follow that up with another non-conference game against Gilmanton on Monday, Jan. 12.