Madison Memorial rallied to defeat Waunakee 64-54 in girls basketball on Tuesday night. The Spartans also learned that star player Leilani Kapinus will miss the rest of the season with a knee injury.
First, the game. Waunakee led 28-22 at the half, but a determined comeback effort led by Emmoni Rankins, Charlotte Sweet, and Liliana Garcia got Madison Memorial back out in front. The trio combined for 41 points, with 30 of them coming in the second half. Rankins had an and-one play that punctuated a run by the Spartans to get back out in front for good, and stiff defense forced Waunakee to turn the ball over on six of seven possessions in the middle of the second half.
Waunakee's leading scorers were Maddie Farnsworth with 18 and Elena Maier with 12.
Memorial got the news on Tuesday that their star junior, Leilani Kapinus, would miss the rest of the season with a knee injury. Here's what she told The Big 1070 at halftime:
Kapinus says that she'll work on helping the team any way she can. Coach Marques Flowers echoed that sentiment, saying that this year will be a coaching internship for Kapinus, who has indicated she'd like to coach someday:
Flowers also spoke highly of his team's effort in the game, and that he felt the team grew from the experiences on Tuesday night.
MADISON MEMORIAL: 22|42=64
WAUNAKEE: 28|26=54
Madison Memorial Scorers:
Emmoni Rankins 16, Liliana Garcia 13, Charlotte Sweet 12, Maya White Eagle 7, Brooke Peters 6, Abby Wilson 3, Daiysha Brown 3, Abbey Maier 2, Reette Thorns 2
Waunakee Scorers:
Maddie Farnsworth 18, Elena Maier 12, Melanie Watson 9, Brooke Ehle 5, Caitlyn Kesilewski 5, Kacie Murrah 3, Kiana Schmitt 2