After having a couple of games cancelled because of COVID concerns, the Poynette girls basketball team got back to work last week.

On Jan. 8, the Pumas hosted defending Capitol North Conference champion Lake Mills, which is ranked third in Division 3. Poynette was unable to keep up with the L-Cats in a 65-34 loss.

“We had a tough task ahead of ourselves with little practice time to prepare for two ranked teams coming to play us for our first two home games,” first-year Poynette coach Tom Mackey said. “Against Lake Mills we ran into a hot shooting team, especially from three-point range as they made nine in the first half and 11 for the game. They probably shot close to 60 percent from the field.”

The following night, the Lady Pumas hosted top-ranked Marshall. The Cardinals built a big first-half lead and cruised to a 60-36 victory.

“We again faced a hot shooting team,” Mackey said. “We took 53 shots, which I was very glad to see. We had 18 turnovers in this game, which led to some fast break layups for them.”

The losses dropped the Lady Pumas to 0-5 overall and 0-3 in the Capitol North.

The Lady Pumas will be at home for their next four games, as they will host Lakeside Lutheran (Jan. 15), Markesan (Jan. 18), Columbus (Jan. 21) and Portage (Jan. 22). All four games will start at 7:30 p.m.

Lake Mills 65 Poynette 34

Lake Mills set the tempo right away and Poynette was unable to keep pace.

The L-Cats poured in 45 points in the first half and led by 29 points, 45-16, at halftime.

Poynette played better defense in the second half, but Lake Mills still added to its lead.

The Lady L-Cats outscored the Pumas 20-18 in the second half.

“We struggled at times with their pressure and their height was a problem for us at times,” Mackey said. “We only had 10 turnovers for the game which I was very pleased with. I was also glad we got more shot attempts in this game, 41, compared to our 30 attempts our previous game.”

Jessica Bruchs was the only Puma to score in double figures. She came away with 10 points, while teammate Hadley Walters added nine.

Lake Mills had Kayla Will (14), Vivian Guerrero (13), Taylor Roughen (12) and Julianna Wagner (10) score in double figures.

Marshall 60 Poynette 36

Just like the previous night, the Pumas fell behind being in the first half and weren’t able to recover.

The Cardinals set the tone with a 41-20 outburst in the first half.

The pace of the game slowed in the second half. Marshall held a 19-16 advantage in the second half.

Ashia Meister led Poynette with 10 points, while Megan Reddeman and Laken Wagner both finished with six.

Marshall had four players score in double figures, including Anna Lutz (15), Laura Nickel (13), Mya Andrews (12) and Halle Weisensel (10).

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