Evergreen girls win thriller over South Shore

The Northwood Evergreens and the South Shore Cardinals locked up in a battle between two of the top Division 5 schools in northern Wisconsin Tuesday in Port Wing with the ’Greens coming out with an exciting 39-38 win.

“It was a really great game with both teams playing well,” said Northwood head coach Jason Schultz.

With 6-foot-2 sisters Emily and Megan Gustafson patrolling the middle in South Shore’s tough zone defense, Northwood had to score from the outside to stay in the game.

“South Shore has a good team and we knew that their size would be a challenge,” Schultz said. “The Gustafsons went to Northwood a few years ago, and we knew they would be tall and skilled players. Luckily for us we made enough plays to win the game.”

Teagen Harings played a great first half for the Greens, making three 3-pointers and scoring 16 of her team’s 20 first-half points.

A Janice Anderson buzzer-beating 3-pointer gave South Shore a 22-20 halftime lead, and South Shore maintained a slight lead through most of the third quarter. But the ’Greens took their first lead of the half as the quarter ended.

The teams traded baskets the rest of the game with Sarah Benson hitting several key shots for Northwood. Northwood freshman Mckayla Waggoner converted a rebound shot with about two minutes to go that proved to be the winning basket and the final points of the game.

For the Evergreens, Harings finished with 19, Benson had 13, Waggoner four, and freshman Elise Burns had three.

“We only shot 30 percent overall but made some huge 3-pointers,” Schultz said.

For South Shore, Emily and Megan Gustafson each had 13, Janice Anderson had seven, Haley Stouffer had three, and Andrea Tuura had two points.

Northwood (4-1) next plays at UW-Stout in Menomonie on the 29th against state ranked Colfax. South Shore (4-2) travels to Mercer on the 29th and 30th to compete in the “Best with the Least” tournament between four of the smallest schools in the Wisconsin. South Shore (enrollment 43), Mercer (35), Butternut (53) and Phelps (35) will all have both boys and girls teams in the tournament.

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Tags: sports, preps, basketball, evergreens