TEAM’S LEADING SCORER … Kyla Risner (pictured) had a team-high 14 points for Evergreen in a 46-40 season-opening loss at Edgerton.
PHOTOS BY REBEKAH DELL / THE VILLAGE REPORTER
CONTESTED SHOT … Edgerton’s Elle Huard drives into the lane against the Viking defense in their season opener on November 21.
By: John Fryman
THE VILLAGE REPORTER
john@thevillagereporter.com
EDGERTON (November 21, 2025) – With a pair of new head coaches, Josh Williams of Evergreen and Pat Bowsher of Edgerton, making their opening night coaching debuts, it was Edgerton who came away with a 46-40 non-conference girls basketball victory over Evergreen in the season opener for both squads.
“We’ve got one victory done, but there is still a long process to go,” said Bowsher, who took over a program that finished as district runners-up a year ago.
“We got 24 hours to think about it, and we go to Pettisville tomorrow night (Nov. 22), and we’re going to do it again.”
Neither team shot the ball well in the first half as Evergreen managed 7/35 field goal attempts for 20% compared to Edgerton’s 5/16 for 31.2%.
Edgerton had difficulty in stopping Evergreen’s three-point shooting in the first half. The Vikings, despite trailing 7-5 after one quarter of play, got themselves into a three-point shooting groove in the second quarter.
After a pair of free throws by Edgerton’s Alivia Farnham tying the game at 16-16 with 4:13 remaining in the second quarter, Evergreen’s Lanae Manz then nailed a pair of wide-open trifectas and Kyla Risner drained another three-pointer giving the Vikings a 22-16 advantage before Edgerton made three of four free throws to pull to within three points, 22-19, at halftime.
“The adjustment we made a little bit in the second quarter was we decided to go to a 2-3 defense, so we moved a couple of girls where their shooters were,” said Bowsher.
“They stepped up, and they executed that, and we started to get hands in their face, which didn’t allow them to shoot the ball.”
A Risner layup gave Evergreen a 24-19 lead to begin the third quarter before Edgerton answered with a baseline jumper by Ava Swank and two free throws by Kaitlyn Burke pulled the Bulldogs within a point, 24-23.
With the score tied at 26-26, Risner nailed a wide-open three-pointer for a 29-26 Evergreen lead before Edgerton rallied with seven unanswered points as Farnham and Swank both nailed trifectas and Elle Huard sank one of two free throws for a 32-29 Edgerton lead.
Evergreen, despite shooting 5/18 in the quarter, regained the lead at 33-32, on a layup by Lyla Radel and a 15-footer by Addyson Gleckler, closing out the third quarter of play.
“I thought our girls played tough, and we had a lot of great shot selections,” said Williams. “It’s unfortunate we couldn’t get quite a few shots in there.
“When that happens, you start to get hesitant with things, and you start lacking confidence a little bit. I’m very proud of the girls because they kept digging hard all night long.”
In the fourth quarter, the Vikings found themselves in foul trouble, where Vaculik and Risner both fouled out, enabling Edgerton to make a comeback.
The Bulldogs had trailed by two points, 36-34, when Risner picked up her fifth foul, sending Farnham to the charity stripe, sinking two free throws, tying the game at 36-36 with 3:46 left.
“She (Farnham) let the game come to her,” said the Bulldogs coach. “I was very proud of the way she played because she didn’t force anything tonight.
“She allowed the game to come to her, and when it was her time to shine, she stepped up and shined for us.
“Same way, with Ava Swank, my other senior, and in the critical times we needed help, she was talking to kids through the defensive end, and she made a couple of shots for us. The leaders we needed to step up stepped up.”
Edgerton was able to take advantage of Evergreen’s foul situation in the quarter with Burke going 4 for 4 from the stripe along with a layup on an assist by Farnham while Huard sank a pair of freebies giving the Bulldogs a comfortable 44-36 lead with 1:08 remaining while capping off a 10-0 run and outscoring Evergreen, 14-7, in the final eight minutes.
“Going into the game, I told them they were going to be physical, and I said that’s the style they (Evergreen) are going to play, and we got to withstand it,” said Bowsher.
“I told them they were going to make a run at us. They’re going to rattle off seven or eight points in a row, we got to withstand that, and we just keep pushing and get back into the game.
“That’s exactly what they did in the second half. They pushed, and we didn’t take it anymore, and we gave it right back. I’m proud of our girls for doing that.”
The Bulldogs were perfect from the charity stripe in the fourth quarter, sinking 10/10 freebies, thus finishing the game hitting 21/24 charity tosses.
Farnham led Edgerton (1-0) with 21 points, including a perfect 9 of 9 from the stripe, while Swank tallied 10 points. The Bulldogs were 11/30 for 36% from the field and had a 40-32 edge on the boards despite committing 23 turnovers.
“Going into it, we only got 12 kids, and we got a short bench,” pointed out Bowsher.
“I told them they’re going to log a lot of minutes, so they’ll have to be able to play tired. And they did a heck of a job with that tonight.”
Risner led the Vikings (0-1) with 14 points, including four treys before fouling out in the fourth quarter, while Manz tallied 13 points with three trifectas.
They were 14/69 for 20% from the floor and 4/13 from the line for 30% while committing eight turnovers.
“We just kept battling,” said Williams. “Our girls found open shots, and let’s say half of those go in, it’s a totally different game, and that changes the trajectory of things.
“Again, it wasn’t our intent to shoot that many shots, but they were open shots. I always tell the girls, if you get an open shot, take it.
EVER 5 17 11 7 – 40
EDG 7 12 13 14 – 46
EVERGREEN (40 – Vaculik 5; Risner 14; Manz 13; Lumbrezer 4; Gleckler 4; Totals: 6-8-4 – 40
EDGERTON (46) – Huard 7; Burke 9; Farnham 20; Swank 10; Totals: 8-3-21 – 46