By Dan Truttschel
Correspondent
The Big Foot girls basketball team has been on the verge of breaking through the past two seasons.
Last week, the Chiefs took a big step.
Big Foot overcame a 12-point deficit to tie the game in regulation and took control in overtime for a 66-58 home victory over Brodhead-Juda.
The win put the Chiefs and the Cardinals into a first-place tie on top of the Rock Valley Conference’s South Division with just two regular-season games remaining.
Big Foot, which beat Clinton 69-56 Tuesday night, is 12-2 in the RVC and 16-4 overall. Brodhead kept pace in the conference with a 63-50 win over Turner.
“It was a win we really needed to get over the hump and win the big game,” Big Foot coach Rick Schoenbeck said. “Winning the conference was the immediate goal.
“We had our backs to the wall and needed to beat Brodhead and not lose any other games since early December. … I am so proud of this group of girls on and off the court with their dedication to school, basketball and the desire to be successful and win.”
Schoenbeck said the extra period came down to his team’s speed that finally wore down the more physical Cardinals.
A 3-pointer by Courtney Schoenbeck got things off on the right foot, her dad said.
“They were the stronger team, but we were the faster team that can run forever,” he said. “That (was to) their advantage in the second half and (it) went to us in the second half and overtime.”
Brodhead lost standout Kylie Moe after she fouled out in overtime – that and Courtney Schoenbeck’s key 3-pointer played a big role.
“They had to move girls around after Moe fouled out, and it changed their team chemistry,” Schoenbeck said. “Our defense won this for us.”
The speed advantage began to help the Chiefs in the second half, Schoenbeck said, as his team outscored the Cardinals 31-19 in the last 18 minutes of regulation.
Where the Chiefs had foul trouble in the first half, that plagued the Cardinals in the second, Schoenbeck said.
“We have a deeper bench, and when (the Brodhead coach) went to his (bench), we caught up very quickly,” he said.
Two quick 3-pointers by Courtney Schoenbeck helped fuel the Chiefs’ rally, as Brodhead had to guard her on the perimeter.
And that gave Big Foot an opening inside, Schoenbeck said.
“This became a huge advantage to us by creating a more balanced inside and outside attack,” he said. “We outshot them at the free-throw line by nine more makes. I always tell the girls that free throws win games and are usually the difference.”
Courtney Schoenbeck led the way with 17 points on the strength of five 3-pointers, followed by Payton Courier with 16 point and 12 rebounds and Morgan Courier with 14 points and five rebounds.
Morgan Courier surpassed the 1,000-point plateau in the win to give the Chiefs an additional highlight. More about her accomplishment appears this week.
“As a coach I want to say she has done a lot more than score for our program, and that makes me even more proud of her,” Schoenbeck said. “Some girls just score a lot and take plays off on defense.
“To me, her leadership, dedication to the program and school, work ethic, hustle and improvement on defense make me even more proud.”
Next up for the Chiefs in a road game Friday at Turner, its second-to-last regular season contest.
Two more victories, and at the very least, Big Foot will have a share of the South Division crown.
“We cannot slip up,” Schoenbeck said. “We need to play sound defense, not turn the ball over and win the offensive rebound battle, along with securing more points than the opponent from the free-throw line.
“Going on the road is always tough, and Turner is one of the teams that has really improved over last year and from the start of the season to now.”
