Eleva-Strum, Augusta keep streaks ongoing

Why stop now?

Eleva-Strum won its first game of the season after starting out with five straight losses back on Dec. 9 at Melrose-Mindoro and the winning hasn't subsided for the Cardinals since.

Last week and this week on Tuesday, Dec. 21, Central has strung together three more wins to make its record 4-5 overall and 4-2 in the Large Dairyland Conference.

"We're starting to jell," E-S head coach J.B. Grandgaard said. "We're coming together and our confidence is starting to build, not just individually but in each other as well. We're cutting down on the turnovers and increasing our rebounding. That's what we're teaching about limiting our opposition's possessions on offense and the kids are buying into it."

The Cardinals began last week, Tuesday, Dec. 14 with a 49-31 win at home vs. Whitehall (5-4 overall). Madison Schultz led Eleva-Strum in scoring with 15 points followed by Paige Hanner's 12 and Jaden Bautch's 11. Maddy Bertrang finished with seven points. Schultz also had a team-best eight rebounds and Bautch led the team in steals with eight. The Cards also held Whitehall's top scorer, Nylah Lisowski to just seven points.

The winning continued for the Cardinals on Friday, Dec. 17 at home again vs. Augusta. E-S's defense was again strong, holding the Beavers to just 13 points in the first half, going in front 21-9 after a 10-2 run in the first half. Eleva-Strum kept the momentum on its side to start the second half, going in front 30-13 and holding that lead despite a late rally by the Beavers which cut the home team's lead to under 10 points. But Eleva-Strum made its free-throws to win 44-31.

Bautch's 19 points led all scorers and Paige Hanner finished with nine points while Schultz had seven. Hanner had a game-high 12 rebounds while Bautch had five steals.

"Jaden brings a lot of energy on both ends of the floor and has been our leader since the start of the season," Grandgaard said. "But the rest of our roster is starting to contribute as well now not just in terms of points but rebounds and defense too."

Augusta had just four players score points led by Sam Winsce's eight points and six points from Brittany Bergman.

Eleva-Strum notched win No. 4 in a row at Alma on Tuesday, Dec. 21 by a 60-43 score over Alma/Pepin (3-6 overall) as they start with games against teams in the Dairyland Small. E-S will look to reach the .500 mark if they get win No. 5 straight next week Thursday, Dec. 30 at Mondovi (1-6 overall).

Augusta kept its winning streak against non-conference foes in tact on Tuesday, Dec. 21 at Port Edwards (1-8 overall). The Beavers raced out to a 31-10 lead in the first half and eventually won 52-36. Korger had a season-best 30 points, including four three-pointers to lead Augusta in scoring. Bergman finished with 10 points. AHS, 3-6 overall, will look to keep this winning streak going next Tuesday, Dec. 28 at Gilman (3-5 overall) and Eau Claire Regis (2-6 overall) on Jan. 4. They'll also look to notch their first league win next year too, especially after losing to E-S and undefeated Blair-Taylor (90-24 last week Tuesday, Dec. 14) to complete the first round of Large Dairyland action.

Fall Creek has been unable to have any streaks, winning or losing, in compiling a 4-5 overall record so far.

The Crickets edged Altoona (5-5 overall) 45-44 last week Tuesday, Dec. 14 in a non-league contest. FC rallied from a 28-16 halftime deficit to get the win led by 14 points from Gianna Vollrath and 11 from Jenna Anders and nine points from Katie Kent. Fall Creek played a week later at Cadott, but couldn't make it two in a row as they fell 40-37 to drop to 1-3 in the Western Cloverbelt. Like the Altoona game, FC fell behind by double digits in the first half, trailing 20-10. They rallied again but were unable to overcome the 7-1 Hornets. Anders had 12 points to lead her team in scoring with Anika Steinke scoring nine points. Cadott's Lauren Goettl had 23 points to lead all scorers. FC will look to turn things positive before the new year as they at Cameron (2-5 overall) next Monday, Dec. 27 and at Arcadia (3-5 overall) on Wednesday, Dec. 29 with a tip-time of 2:15 p.m.