By Jacob Heid

Sports Writer

ROSHOLT – After starting the season 1-7, the Hornets have flipped the switch dramatically. 

Several close games have gone Rosholt’s way, now holding onto all the confidence in the world. 

Rosholt picked up its ninth consecutive win, beating Pittsville 48-47 in overtime on Jan. 24.  

The way the team has flipped the script is impressive. 

“Grit, that’s the word that the Rosholt Lady Hornets have honed in on this season, and it shows,” coach Scott Pettersen said. “At the beginning of the season, I said that we would spend some time finding out who we are as a team but come tournament time, we’d be the team that no one would want to play. The girls have been working extremely hard, and that work and closeness as a team are starting to pay dividends.” 

Rosholt started a little slow but eventually held an 8-7 lead with 11:14 left in the opening half. 

The Hornets then scored seven of the next 10 points, taking a 15-10 lead into the final eight minutes of the first half.

Later, Freshman Addi Gagas stripped the ball away near halfcourt, leading to two points on the other end. That sparked an 11-5 run to close the half, with Rosholt leading by 13, 28-15.

The Hornets had a double-digit advantage for roughly the first eight minutes of the second half before Pittsville started making a push.

The Panthers cut the deficit to eight with nine minutes left in the game. Rosholt held on for dear life down the stretch and actually had to re-take the lead.

The Hornets fell behind by three, 41-38, with 2:34 remaining in regulation. That remained the score for over a minute before junior Sarah Trzinski knocked down two free throws, making it 41-40 with 1:03 to play. 

The Hornets had a shot at winning the game, being able to draw up a play with 10 seconds left.

Gagas drove to the right side of the lane and got fouled, hitting one of her two free throws. That put the game into overtime, tied at 41-41.

The two sides battled in extra time, with Rosholt taking a 47-45 lead with 20 seconds left by junior Bridget Lemanczyk.

A free throw shooting contest made it a 48-47 game with 2.1 ticks on the clock. The Panthers had the last possession and a good look at the buzzer, but it failed to drop.

Rosholt has climbed back in the CWC-South standings, picking up notable wins throughout this win streak. 

“[The girls] have been improving daily with big conference wins over Pacelli and now Pittsville,” Pettersen stated.