By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
It goes without saying, but you can’t get deep into the WIAA tournament without winning the first game.
And for the Big Foot girls basketball team, that was never in doubt.
For the second time in less than a week, the Chiefs easily handled visiting Palmyra-Eagle – and by nearly identical scores – with a 71-45 victory Tuesday night in a Division 3 regional opener.
The win improved the Chiefs, who beat Palmyra 76-41 last Thursday to close the regular season, to 17-6 overall. Sixth-seeded Big Foot moves onto a regional semifinal Friday night at third-seeded Edgerton at 7 p.m.
Edgerton beat Big Foot 44-30 earlier this season. The winner advances to a regional final Saturday against either second-seeded Madison Edgewood or seventh-seeded Lakeside Lutheran.
Even with Tuesday’s lopsided score, the Chiefs still had to shake loose a few jitters, Big Foot coach Rick Schoenbeck said.
“The game went as planned,” he said. “We had a slow start. We were a little tight. When we loosened up, we played very well.
“Palmyra-Eagle played the same 3-2 zone we expect from Edgerton in the last two games, so we feel that will help us prepare for our second-round game.”
And it never hurts to have the home crowd behind you, either, Schoenbeck said.
“It was a big crowd that was very loud,” he said. “The girls really like playing in front of a full gym. (We’ve had) great support all year, especially from our student section.”
Big Foot raced out to a 36-19 halftime lead and never looked back. The Chiefs outscored the Panthers 35-26 to close things out.
Olivia Briggs led a balanced scoring attack with 19 points, followed by Reagan Courier with 17, Payton Courier with 12 and Brooke Wellhausen with eight.
Eleven Big Foot players reached the scoring column in the win.
“Olivia Briggs played extremely well,” Schoenbeck said. “She led us in the first half. All phases of her game were going very well. She is the captain of the team, and all the girls look up to her.”
Schoenbeck added that both Payton Courier and Zanzie Demco also had solid efforts on both sides of the court.
“(They) hit several outside shots that pulled (Palmyra) out of the zone and put them in man to man,” he said. “In addition, both played very good defense and controlled their key players from scoring.”
Reagan Courier had 19 points to lead the Chiefs in the regular-season finale last Thursday. Payton Courier followed with 15 points, while Wellhausen added 12 and Briggs had 11.
Big Foot led 36-16 at halftime and never was challenged.
Tough challenge ahead
Schoenbeck said he knows Edgerton will be a tough challenge, but he’s also confident that his group can answer the call.
And the Chiefs certainly will have that 14-point loss to the Tide in the back of their minds.
“Edgerton has sat since last Thursday, (so) they may be a little rusty,” Schoenbeck said. “We wanted a rematch because the Edgerton game was our poorest of the year and (it is) a very winnable game.
“Revenge for the loss will be on our shoulders and motivate us. Our seniors want to keep playing, and I expect them to carry us for sure.”
