By Rob Whitmire

The SPASH girls basketball team put a cap on its regular season schedule with a 63 – 45 win at Wausau East Thursday night.

The Panthers end the regular season with a 9 – 13 record overall, 6 – 6 in the Wisconsin Valley Conference

Freshman Leah Earnest poured in a game high 18 points to lead the Panther attack with SPASH taking a commanding 36 – 18 lead into the halftime break. Earnest hit 8 of 11 shots from the field and cleared seven rebounds on the night.

Rachel Sullivan owned the boards pulling down 17 rebounds, including 13 on the defensive end. Sullivan chipped in 8 points.

The game marked the final regular season game for senior Brooke Tuszka who scored 6 points and recorded 3 rebounds for the Panthers.

SPASH opens WIAA tournament play as the No. 6 seed in the D.C. Everest Sectional when they travel to Neenah Friday, February 24 for a 7 PM tilt against the No. 3 seeded Rockets. Neenah and SPASH opened their 2016 – 17 season with the Rockets taking a 70 – 49 win over the Panthers.

The winner will play the winner of the game between Wisconsin Rapids Lincoln and Appleton West on Saturday, Feb. 25 at a site to be determined.

Neenah comes into Friday’s game off a 56 — 47 defeat at the hands of Appleton West. The Rockets finished their regular season with a 10 – 12 overall record, 7 – 11 in the Fox Valley Association.

Panther Scoring: Leah Earnest 18; Maggie Negaard 10; Rachel Sullivan 8; Madisyn Rogan 6; Brooke Tuszka 6; Halle Gregorich 4; Abby Gemza 4; Halle Pavelski 3; Brooklyn Seefeldt 2; Kaylin Kostuchowski 2.