Heights girls eliminated

One rebound. One shot. One possession. Sometimes, that’s all it comes down to in the postseason. And when those little things didn’t go Wisconsin Heights’ way last Saturday night, the Vanguards’ season came to an abrupt end. Waterloo’s Skyler Powers had a rebound basket with just 3 seconds left lifting the host Pirates to a 53-51 win over Heights in a WIAA Division 4 regional final. Waterloo advanced to sectionals for the first time in school history, while the Vanguards finished the year 3-11. “We played a quality game and had our chances,” Heights coach Bill Sullivan said. “But Waterloo had the ball bounce their way one more time that we did.” Pirates coach Gabe Haberkorn was naturally giddy about making history. “You have to give credit to all the girls that have played in the past,” Haberkorn said. “They set the foundation of what we’ve wanted to do.” Waterloo held a 29-26 halftime lead and pushed that to double digits in the second half. Heights reclaimed a 51-49 lead, though, then Waterloo’s Ava Jaehnke knocked down two free throws with 1 minute, 9 seconds remaining to tie the game. After a Heights miss, Waterloo called a pair of timeouts in the final 26 seconds to set up a final play. Pirates sophomore Sophia Schneider missed from in the lane, but Powers corralled the rebound and scored the game-winner. It marked the third time this season that Waterloo beat Heights, but this was the closest of the three. “I thought we were playing our best basketball the last two games and felt good about our chances going into the game,” Sullivan said Kylee Doherty led the Vanguards with 17 points, while Emily Van Riper added 14. Hana King had eight points and Sydnee Duhr battled through an ankle sprain she suffered the previous night. “Very proud of how the girls played this season with the limitations on how we could practice,” Sullivan said. “Most teams we played had played twice as many games as we did.” Heights also had a hard fought, 57-53, win over Palmyra-Eagle in the regional semifinals Friday. The Vanguards picked apart Palmyra’s 1-2-2 zone to start the second half, built a double digit lead, then hung on late. Ashley Mickelson hit a pair of clutch free throws down the stretch and Sydnee Duhr led the Vanguards in scoring. “Hard fought game by both teams,” Sullivan said. “Great team effort.”   Feb. 13 WATERLOO 53,  WISCONSIN HEIGHTS 51 Heights ………….. 26 25 — 51 Waterloo ……….. 29 24 — 53 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS (fg ft-fta pts) — Payne 0 2-4 2; Van Riper 6 1-2 14; Duhr 0 0-2 0; King 3 0-0 8; Bartel 3 0-1 7; Doherty 7 3-6 17; Schaefer 1 0-0 3. Totals 20 6-15 51. WATERLOO — Schneider 5 0-0 14; Powers 3 0-2 6; Jaehnke 5 2-2 15; Asik 2 6-11 11; Wolff 3 1-1 7. Totals 18 9-16 53. 3-point goals: WH 5 (King 2, Van Riper 1, Bartel 1, Schaefer 1); Wat 8 (Schneider 4, Jaehnke 3, Asik 1). Total fouls: WH 15; Wat 19.