Winfield-Mount Union girls eliminated at Notre Dame

BURLINGTON — Friday night marked the end of the line for the Winfield-Mount Union girls basketball team. The Lady Wolves couldn’t contain No. 7 Notre Dame in a Class 1A Region 6 semifinal, falling 68-36.

It was the third year in a row the Nikes defeated the Wolves in the postseason. With the win, Notre Dame continued a streak of 22-straight victories this season.

The Wolves played the unbeaten Nikes tight in the first quarter. WMU rallied back from an early Notre Dame rush to cut a three-possession lead down to one point, but the Nikes stretched that to 13-10 by the end of the period.

Notre Dame exploded in the second quarter, scoring 21 points in the period. WMU struggled to finish inside and found its self down 34-19 at the break.

“It was very frustrating, particularly at halftime,” said Winfield-Mount Union head coach Mitch Wachs. “We did everything we needed to do for this to be a close ballgame (but) they hit shots and we didn’t.”

After a strong start to the third for the Nikes, WMU battled to get the deficit back to below 15 points, but the Nikes closed the third period out strong and led 50-31 after three periods. WMU would never get closer than that.

“Our kids battled,” Wachs said. “We finally cut into it, got it under that 15-point mark and boom, they hit a three.”

Particularly damaging to the Wolves’ hopes was Notre Dame senior Reagan Engberg, who dropped 22 points. Her season average coming in was just under 10.

Keely Malone finished the night with 12 points to lead WMU. Keetyn Townsley and Bradie Buffington scored eight apiece. Jobey Malone had five, and Melina Oepping scored three.

The Wolves finished the year 19-5. Notre Dame (22-0) will play English Valleys (23-3) in the regional final on Wednesday.