Kiel’s pressure sends CG-Belgium home

Senior Ellie Felsinger and the rest of the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ basketball team gave it all they had, but Kiel’s pressure defense was too much to overcome on the road last Saturday.

The No. 6-seeded Rockets ended their season with a 52-38 loss at No. 3-seeded Kiel in the Division 3 playoffs.

That was despite a standout game by Felsinger, the Rockets’ top post player. She scored 16 points on 7-for-7 shooting, including 2-for-3 on free throws, and grabbed seven rebounds.

“She had a really nice game,” coach Jason Jones said.

Alyssa Mentink had eight points, and Shelby Cooney had four assists and four rebounds.

The Rockets fell behind, 29-16, at halftime before closing to within eight points in the second half. The Raiders then pulled away.

“What got us in that game was their press. Turnovers turned into points for them,” Jones said.

The Rockets also lost the rebound battle, 37-26.

Josie Binversie scored 19 for Kiel, and Savannah Walsdorf had 12. Rachel Muehlbauer had 11.

The Rockets won their opening-round playoff game against No. 11-seeded Two Rivers, 46-31.

The Rockets took an early lead and held it for the rest of the game. They were ahead, 21-17, at halftime, but the Purple Raiders closed to within two points a couple of times in the second half.

Two key three-pointers by Amy TenHaken and two more by Maddie Sutryk helped push the score back to a more comfortable margin for the Rockets.

Sutryk had 14 points and Felsinger had 12. TenHaken had nine and Alyssa Mentink had eight.

Felsinger had 14 rebounds, and Sutryke had six. Alex Mentink had three assists.

Besides key shooting, the Rockets played well on the other end of the court.

“Good defense. I think we really kind of pulled it together in the second half,” Jones said.

The Rockets finished the season 12-11.

“The girls played hard all season long. We’re getting better as a program,” Jones said.