BATH – With the CMAC race starting to heat up, Hannah Thelen had no choice but to stomach the flu bug that crept up on her Tuesday morning.
Tessa Hosford ,left, of Bath steals the ball from Brenna Wirth ,right, of Pewamo-Westphalia in the 1st half of their game Tuesday.
The Pewamo-Westphalia girls basketball team entered game day two games out of first place – and just one game behind Bath, the opponent awaiting them Tuesday night – and Thelen wanted to make sure she helped her squad remain in the league hunt.
The senior guard did just that.
Thelen, who was an all-league selection last season, scored eight of her game-high 19 points in the fourth quarter as the Pirates outlasted the Bees, 53-40, to pick up their third straight conference victory.
“We knew that we had to work hard, work as a team, because this (game) is what matters,” said Thelen, whose team lost to Bath, at home, by 11 points earlier in the season. “We had to get them this game.”
The two conference rivals went into the fourth quarter tied at 36, and that’s when the senior’s leadership came into play. Thelen, who was shooting 43 percent from 3-point range coming into Tuesday’s game, went 2-for-2 from downtown – her only 3-point attempts of the night – and spearheaded a Pewamo-Westphalia defense that held Bath to zero fourth-quarter field goals.
The victory evens the Pirates (8-5, 7-2) and the Bees (9-2, 7-2) in the race for the CMAC title, as both teams are chasing unbeaten Laingsburg. Pewamo-Westphalia will host the Wolfpack next Thursday.
“She’s (Thelen) that calming effect where we bring the ball up the floor, get the ball to her, and when she’s got the ball I think everyone else kind of relaxes,” Pirates coach Steve Eklund said. “She takes a lot of pressure off of everybody else. They know she’s going to come out and dish out five (assists) a game, and she’s going to score when we need a bucket. Like tonight.”
Thelen’s fourth-quarter heroics were needed after the Pirates’ seven-point lead quickly vanished in the third quarter. Bath, trailing 32-25, ended the third quarter on an 11-4 run thanks to the gutsy defensive efforts of Bath junior Tessa Hosford, who recorded five steals and eight points in the game. The Bees forced Pewamo-Westphalia into seven turnovers in the final five minutes of the period.
Tessa’s sister, freshman Tait Hosford, scored six of her team-high 14 points in the third quarter.
“We controlled our own destiny before this game,” said Bath coach Chris Rypstra, whose team also has one more meeting with the Wolfpack. “Thinking and looking at a conference title, we become P-W’s biggest fan and they become are biggest fan when we play Laingsburg.
“League titles and districts are what they are, but every high school team wants to improve every day, every game, so that you’re playing the best at the end, and it was one of those things where we didn’t tonight. We got to accept that and move on and get better from it. P-W is a great team and I give them all the credit in the world.”
Sophomore Emily Spitzley scored 13 points for the Pirates and senior Alyssa Nurenberg added eight.
Junior guard Taylor Buck contributed with five points for the Bees.
Contact James L. Edwards III at jledwards@lsj.com. Follow him on Twitter @JLEdwardsIII.