By Robert Whitmire

The SPASH girls basketball team rolled to an 81-69 win over Wausau East Friday night, improving their Wisconsin Valley Conference record to 3-2.

The Lumberjacks dropped to 0-4 in the conference.

Madisyn Rogan looks for two of her 12 points for the Panthers on Jan. 13. (City Times photo)

Freshman Leah Earnest lit up the board for the Panthers with a game high 25 points. Halle Gregorich added 15 points and Madisyn Rogan brought in 12 points for SPASH.

“We played well enough offensively to win this game but defensively we have a lot of work to do,” said Panther Coach Derek Kirklewski.

SPASH took a 41-35 lead into the halftime break, then opened the second half with a 10-4 run to go up 51-39. A 13-5 run midway through the second half broke the game open and SPASH found itself up 78-56 with 3:00 left on the clock.

“In the first half we came out slow and didn’t move our feet,” said Rogan. “We took the floor with more intensity and moved the ball well on offense in the second half.”

The Panthers hit 29 of 79 from the floor including 26 two- and three–pointers, and went 20 of 32 from the charity stripe. They hauled down 35 rebounds.

The Lumberjacks were led in scoring by senior Lauren Watters with 21 points. Brenna Urmanski added 15 points.

The SPASH JV squad won 53-21. Rachel Lummis led the Panthers with 19 points. Kaylee Hintz added 11 points and Izabelle Eppinger dropped in 10 points.

The Panthers will be at home Monday night when they play host to D.C. Everest and again Tuesday night when they host Rhinelander in a non-conference tilt. Both game are scheduled for 7:30 PM starts.

SPASH Scoring
Varsity: Leah Earnest 25; Halle Gregorich 15; Madisyn Rogan 12; Brooke Tuszka 8; Madelyn Mutz 6; Kaylin Kostuchowski 4; Maddie Fink 4; Rachel Sullivan 3; Brooklyn Seefeldt 2; Halle Pavelski 2.
JV: Rachel Lummis 19; Kaylee Hintz 11; Izabelle Eppinger 10; Rachel Placeway 6; Joleece Pecore 3; Tigist Ficken 2; Kirsten Hill 2.