Laconia trailed West De Pere by 10 with 4:11 left in the first half.
Then the Spartans unleashed their 1-3-1 zone, and the Phantoms would not score again for nearly seven minutes of game time.
That decision changed the game and helped D3 No. 3 Laconia to a dominating 75-59 home nonconference win against D2 No. 7 West De Pere.
Once Laconia (11-2) went to the zone, it finished the first half on a 15-0 run. That momentum continued after halftime as the Spartans held the Phantoms scoreless for the first 2:45 of the second half as well.
All told, it was a 24-0 run over 6:56 of the game, building a 43-29 lead.
Coach Chris Morgan said he wasn't sure if he could go to the zone against the sharp-shooting West De Pere team, which has four players shooting better than 32 percent from 3, led by its dynamic point guard Faith Walder.
"We didn't know if we could play the zone because of Faith being such a great ball handler," Morgan said. "In hindsight, what it allowed was her to not play one-on-one with anybody else, she's just really hard to stay in front of and then she's pitching the ball and they're hitting shots.
"That kind of allowed us to corral Faith a little bit and it kind of slowed them down and took them out of their rhythm."
The Phantoms (11-4) still managed to make 14 3-pointers in the game, but the scoreless stretch trying to solve Laconia's zone made the hole too big to climb out of. Laconia also held Walder to just 6 points in the second half.
The Spartans trapped out of the zone, causing live-ball turnovers and getting both Aubrey Leonard and Tierney Madigan into the open floor. Madigan finished with a game-high 25 and Leonard had her season-high with 22.
Leonard made a point to get to the rim early and often as West De Pere struggled to stay in front of her.
She got going early, scoring twice on drives in the first 45 seconds of the game. She continued to get downhill and pressured the West De Pere defense.
"Aubrey had a great game, probably the best game of the season for her," Morgan said. "She's just really hard to stay in front of when she plays under control and changes her speeds.
"We knew we were going to have matchups at times, so we had to exploit those matchups. They always had one, two kids on the floor that were probably not going to stay in front of Aubrey, and they do a lot of switching so when they switch, you've got to take advantage."
Madigan once again did it all. In addition to scoring in transition, she got to the hoop at will, pulled down several offensive rebounds and used her athleticism to dominate in the post against taller opponents.
All of Madigan's points came in or near the paint, including an and-1, which she made the free throw on.
"Tierney had a monster game," Morgan said. "She just really dominated athletically around the rim in the second half, and she was strong as she always does, getting offensive rebounds."
Leonard, Madigan and sophomore Finley Morgan were the only players to score in the second half. Morgan hit two 3-pointers that helped regain momentum when West De Pere made small scoring runs.
Morgan finished with 17.
Leonard said the win can help to regain the team's confidence after a slip-up last week.
"After our loss last Monday, it hurt our confidence a little bit," Leonard said. "We knew this was going to be [another] dog fight.
"This win really is a confidence booster for us."
PHOTO GALLERY: West De Pere at Laconia girls basketball - 1/14/2025
