Kimberly overcomes slow start, beats North, clinches the FVA

KIMBERLY - Kimberly's quest for a perfect Fox Valley Association season came to a halt Tuesday when the Papermakers lost to Appleton North.

But when Kimberly hosted Oshkosh North on Friday night the Papermakers had plenty to play for — the FVA title.

Despite Tuesday's setback, Kimberly still could clinch the FVA title if it beat the other North in the FVA. Considering the way Kimberly played Tuesday, shooting 18 percent in the loss, you had to figure the Papermakers would come out with their "hair on fire."

However, that wasn't the case. Kimberly was held scoreless for the first quarter and missed its first 15 shots. Nonetheless, a relentless defense made life tough for the Spartans and Kimberly rallied for a commanding 47-27 win, as the Papermakers won their second FVA title in three years.

"It's amazing," sophomore guard Frankie Wurtz said. "It's obviously been a goal the whole time. It's huge and it's incredible."

You could say that, especially after Kimberly's first quarter. After scoring just 29 points against Appleton North, it looked as if the Papermakers, ranked No. 3 in the FOX 11 Top 11 girls basketball poll, were in store for another rough evening.

Kimberly was 0-for-13 in the first quarter, missed two free throws and committed five turnovers as North led, 9-0. Kimberly was fortunate to just be down nine points as North was sloppy with the ball, turning it over seven times.

"That's exactly what happened to us when we played against Appleton North," Kimberly coach  Troy Cullen said.

What didn't happen at Appleton North was Kimberly finding itself. After the first quarter, Kimberly outscored the Spartans, 47-18, the rest of the way.

"We just stayed on it tonight," Cullen said. "We said, 'Don't give up.' Then they started believing when things started happening. I thought we did a better job of getting the ball isnide. We settled for too many outside shots."

What keyed Kimberly's onslaught was its defense. The Papermakers swarmed North and the conference's leading scorer, Brooklyn Schamens (14.8 points per game). Schamens scored just four points.

Furthermore, Kimberly forced 26 turnovers.

"Defensively, we need to be able to do that, Cullen said. “Our ball pressure is important. That’s our bread and butter and we need to continue to do that to be succcessful.”

The Papermakers also need Wurtz, the FVA’s second-leading scorer (14.2 ppg.) and top candidate for FVA player of the year, to make her impression on offense, and she did.

The 5-foot-8 guard scored 15 points and handled North’s 1-3-1 half-court zone defense admirably. When Kimberly was struggling, Wurtz rattled off seven quick points in the second quarter that eventually led to a 15-14 halftime lead.

"We were a little shaky at first but then we broke (the zone) down and got a few shots," Wurtz said. "We got it inside."

Kimberly never trailed in the second half and didn’t allow North to score a field goal in the fourth quarter. The Papermakers, after a rough start, left no doubt which team is the class of the FVA.

They now own a three-game lead over Oshkosh North with two conference games to play. To have already clinched the FVA with room to spare says something about a team with just two seniors on the roster.

“We’re young, and I like how their focus is,” Cullen said. “We need to work to get better.

“These are not easy to get. It’s one goal. You’re happy as heck to get one of these, but we have more goals. Our bigger goal is to be successful, all the way to the Resch Center (state tournament).”

Added Wurtz: “Hopefully we can just keep getting better and hold on in the playoffs.”

• 3-pointers: Nicole Herkert led North with 12 points and was 8-for-11 from the free throw line. ... Sophomore Jenna Smarzinski added 10 points for Kimberly. ... North made just seven shots from the field.
• Game ball: Wurtz, who got her offense going and handled the ball well against North’s defense.
• Numbers game: 29 Points Kimberly outscored North by in the final three quarters.

(3)KIMBERLY 47, OSHKOSH NORTH 27
Oshkosh North.....9    5    9    4  —  27
Kimberly.................0  15  14  18 —  47
Oshkosh North (14-5, 12-4): Brooklyn Schamens 4, Nicole Herkert 12, Meghan Ziegler 2, Elizabeth Redlin 5, Hannah Robl 2, Michaela Welsh 1, Sommer Hill 1. 3-pointers: 1 (Redlin 1).  Turnovers: 26. Totals: 7 12-16 27.
Kimberly (16-2, 15-1): Elly Pirman 3, Alison Miron 5, Frankie Wurtz 15, Jenna Smarzinski 10, Steoh Hetto 2, Kenzie Heck 4, Marley Chevalier 4, Dana McMorrow 3, Sabrina Vanden Heuvel 1. 3-pointers: 3 (Wurtz 1, Smarzinski 1, McMorrow 1). Turnovers: 14. Totals: 19 6-12 47.

Follow Doug Ritchay on Twitter @dougritchay

doug.ritchay@wluk.com