Hortonville Polar Bears earn share of Fox Valley Association girls basketball title with win over Neenah

HORTONVILLE − A huge game from Rainey Welson and a solid performance off the bench from Julieyn Martin helped the Hortonville girls basketball team earn a share of the Fox Valley Association title Friday.

The Polar Bears (18-4 overall, 16-1 FVA) beat Neenah 73-59 and completed the sweep of their rival in regular-season play. Welson was superb, finishing with 29 points on 9-of-16 shooting along with five rebounds. She was also 8-of-8 from the free throw line.

"This is one of the teams that you want to try and beat every year, no matter where you're at," Hortonville coach AC Clouthier said. "A conference game or a conference championship — whatever. This is why we play this game. It's such a fun environment. The teams are so competitive and they both have all-stars."

Martin had 15 points on 5-of-5 shooting in a reserve role and the 5-foot-9 sophomore guard also lifted the team with her spirited play.

"It's incredible," Clouthier said of having a talent like Martin coming off the bench. "When you can play that many athletes and also get productivity — and Emmy Fane came in and hit a big 3-pointer too — but Julieyn Martin has been playing her best basketball of late. As a coach, if we can get our best athletes to play their best at this time of year it's great. For her to come in and get big moments and lock up defensively, really need to see that from her. She works tirelessly in practice to be in those situations. She earned that spot and those minutes. Really happy for her."

Welson, a 5-10 junior, said a loss to Neenah her freshman season has fueled her competitive fire for every matchup with the Rockets.

“Everybody knows about the Neenah rivalry," she said. "My freshman year we had a tough loss against them and ever since then, I’ve been a bit salty about it so I keep going. I want to do the best for my team and I want that team to feel that way after my freshman year. Only Kallie (Peppler) and (Mikayla Werner) were a part of that team, but I don’t want Julieyn Martin to feel that way on the court or feel that loss that we did. So I do it for my team. We all do it for each other out there."

Second-half run dooms Neenah

Neenah trailed at the half against Hortonville and fell behind even more to start the second half. The Rockets fought back and took a 47-46 lead with just over eight minutes remaining in the second half, but an 11-0 run by the Polar Bears proved too difficult to overcome.

"That 11-0 run, that was really the difference in the game," Neenah coach Andy Braunel said. "We clawed and scratched our way back and we shot terrible in the first half. I mean awful. For us to be down by four at halftime, we felt good about it. And then it felt like when they went on that run we didn't answer the way we needed to and the way that we're capable of answering."

Basketball livestream of the week: Fox Valley Lutheran at Freedom

USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin will livestream a North Eastern Conference boys basketball showdown as Fox Valley Lutheran travels to take on Freedom on Tuesday.

The livestream begins at 7:15 p.m. and can be seen on postcrescent.com, on the Post-Crescent's Facebook page and on YouTube on the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin channel.

De Pere boys basketball on Roundtable

The top-ranked De Pere boys basketball team will be guests on Varsity Roundtable this week. De Pere is the defending WIAA Division 1 state champion.

The show can be seen Wednesday on postcrescent.com, on the Post-Crescent's Facebook page or on the USA TODAY NETWORK-Wisconsin YouTube channel. Showtime is 7 p.m.

Area basketball rankings

*Teams are ranked "pound-for-pound" based on success against similar enrollments. Monday's results not included.

GIRLS

1, St. Mary Catholic (21-1): Win streak hits 10 for surging Zephyrs as team clinches Big East-North championship with 64-30 victory over Reedsville on Friday. Next: Monday vs. Hilbert.

2, Hortonville (18-4): Polar Bears get big win over Neenah on Friday to clinch a share of Fox Valley Association title. Team can win FVA outright with win at home over Appleton West on Thursday. Next: Tuesday at Green Bay Notre Dame.

3, Kimberly (19-3): Papermakers still within striking distance of share of FVA title but would need to win final two FVA games, vs. Kaukauna on Thursday and vs. Appleton East on Feb. 20, along with a Hortonville loss to Appleton West. Next: Thursday vs. Kaukauna.

4, Neenah (19-4): Rockets drop tough loss to Hortonville on Friday and finish Fox Valley Association regular season with matchup against Oshkosh West. Next: Thursday at Oshkosh West.

5, Xavier (16-7): Hawks enter final week of Bay Conference regular season tied with West De Pere at the top with 10-1 record. Xavier plays Shawano with the Phantoms taking on New London in final conference games. Next: Thursday vs. Shawano.

Also: Freedom (16-6), New London (16-6), Chilton (15-8), Appleton East (12-9), Menasha (13-9), Wrightstown (13-8), Appleton North (11-11).

BOYS

1, Xavier (19-1): Hawks on 10-game winning streak and continue solid play with 73-37 victory over Wittenberg-Birnamwood on Saturday. Team plays tough nonconference game at Great Northern leader Mosinee on Tuesday. Next: Tuesday at Mosinee.

2, Brillion (18-2): Lions in second place in Eastern Wisconsin Conference with 10-1 record, one game behind Kiel. Grady Geiger (20.6) and Owen Krepline (11.3) lead the team in scoring. Next: Tuesday vs. Two Rivers.

3, Fox Valley Lutheran (18-2): Foxes have a two-game lead over Freedom in the North Eastern Conference. FVL's losses are to Xavier and Appleton East. Next: Tuesday at Freedom.

4, Appleton North (16-4): Lightning's hopes of Fox Valley Association title took a hit with loss to Appleton East on Tuesday. Appleton North has three conference games remaining: Tuesday vs. Kaukauna, Friday at Appleton East and Feb. 22 at home against surging Neenah. Next: Tuesday vs. Kaukauna.

5, Freedom (17-3): Irish are two games out of first place in North Eastern Conference with three league games remaining. Junior guard Drew Kortz is second on the team in scoring (14.1) and tied for first in assists (4.4) with Donovan Davis. Next: Tuesday vs. Fox Valley Lutheran.

Others: Neenah (14-7), Kaukauna (15-6), Kimberly (13-7), St. Mary Catholic (15-6), Clintonville (14-6), New London (12-7), Waupaca (12-8), Hortonville (11-9), Seymour (12-8), Little Chute (11-10).

This article originally appeared on Appleton Post-Crescent: Hortonville Polar Bears earn share of FVA girls basketball title