Portage County Gazette

The Stevens Point Area Senior High School (SPASH) girls basketball team won the Wisconsin Valley Conference (WVC) Title outright with a victory at home Monday, Feb. 11.

The Panthers (16-5, 11-0) clinched a share of the WVC Title for the second year in a row with a win at Wausau East Friday, Feb. 8, and then broke open a close game in the second half to win 64-41 over Merrill at the SPASH Fieldhouse Monday night to capture the Conference Title outright.

“I am really proud of the girls for winning the Conference Title,” said SPASH girls basketball head coach Kraig Terpstra. “We have played very good basketball in conference games.

“Even though it is back-to-back, we have nine new players on the roster (this season),” he said.

After a 90-87 win at Wausau West Jan. 11 broke a tie at the top of the conference standings, SPASH was 9-0 in the WVC entering Friday night, to hold a one-game lead over Wausau West (8-1).

The Panthers went into halftime with a 46-22 lead at Wausau East Friday and rolled in the second half for an 81-37 win, as junior forward Leah Earnest finished with 35 points and 12 rebounds, and senior guard Madisyn Rogan totaled 15 points and eight assists.

Meanwhile, Wausau West lost 71-67 to Marshfield (7-5) Friday to clinch at least a share of the Conference Title for SPASH.

The Panthers looked to claim the WVC Title outright against Merrill Monday night, where the game was tied 27-27 at halftime.

However, SPASH used a 37-14 advantage in the second half to pull away for a 64-41 win, as Earnest totaled 26 points and 10 rebounds, and Rogan scored 17 points to lead the Panthers.

SPASH is scheduled to close the regular season at home against Wausau West at 7:15 p.m. Thursday, Feb. 14, before the fifth-seeded Panthers open the postseason against 12th-seeded D.C. Everest in a WIAA Division 1 Regional Semifinal at 7 p.m. at the SPASH Fieldhouse Friday, Feb. 22.