Waterloo girls take down Marshall again

This season has been a long time coming for the Waterloo girls basketball team. The Pirates have long suffered against their rivals, the Cardinals of Marshall High School. Up until a win last season, Waterloo had lost 31 straight games to its rival dating back to January of 2007. While the Pirates earned an early win to buck that trend, the Cardinals went on to beat them twice more that season, including a season-ending defeat in the Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association (WIAA) state tournament.

Waterloo has made even further steps in the right direction this season. The Pirates beat the Cardinals at home in mid January, 53-42. On Tuesday, Feb. 6, Waterloo completed the sweep by beating Marshall at their place, 64-54. This is the first time since the 2006-2007 season that the Pirates have beaten the Cardinals in both regular season meetings.

A pair of seniors helped lead Waterloo to this repeat victory in a hostile environment. Wing Brenna Huebner led the charge, knocking down six field goals on her way to a game-high 20 points. Guard Tess Blundell wasn't far behind. She knocked down a trio of three pointers to contribute 18. Sophomore post presence Emma Baumann made per presence felt off the bench, as well, with 13 points.

The silver lining for Marshall in the loss was the performance from its younger players. A pair of freshmen led the scoring charge, headlined by 18 points from Tori Justmann. Fellow freshman Paige Colden was right behind her with 15. Senior guard Wynn Held also contributed 11.

With the win, Waterloo is back over .500 on the year with an 11-10 record, including a 3-5 mark in Capitol - South conference play. The loss is Marshall's seventh straight as the Cardinals drop to 8-14 overall and 0-8 in conference play.

The Pirates will look to keep the wins rolling on Friday, Feb. 9 with another home conference game, this time against Wisconsin Heights. They'll close the regular season with a pair of road games next week, at Deerfield on Tuesday, Feb. 13 and at New Glarus on Thursday, Feb. 15. The Cardinals will look to bounce back on Friday, Feb. 9 as they host Belleville. They'll close the regular season on Thursday, Feb. 15 with a trip to Wisconsin Heights.

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Capitol - South conference girls basketball standings

(overall records in parenthesis)

-as of Tuesday, Feb. 6

1. New Glarus, 8-0 (18-2)

2. Cambridge, 7-1 (15-7)

3. Belleville, 5-3 (13-7)

4. Waterloo, 3-5 (11-10)

5. Wisconsin Heights, 1-7 (4-14)

6. Marshall, 0-8 (8-14)