Plum City/Elmwood girls basketball is taking steps in the right direction.

The team suffered a couple losses in the last week, but Coach Adam Stitch saw a lot of progress from his team.

“We’re working toward where we need to be,” he said.

In a non-conference home game Saturday, St. Croix Central went to the line 40 times and came up with a 54-48 win.

“When the other team shoots 40 free throws, it’s going to be a long day,” said Stitch. “That was the difference. We put them in the double bonus for a third of the game.”

That being said, Plum City/Elmwood kept fighting and cut back on its mistakes as the game progressed.

“We never gave up. We played hard. We played smart in the second half. The concentration lapses were not there in the second half. We played much smarter basketball overall,” said Stitch.

Elmwood/Plum City fell to perennial powerhouse Colfax on the road Thursday night, 74-49.

There were bright spots.

“They’ve been the premier program for years. If you don’t play your best against them, you’re going to be in trouble,” said Stich.

The coach said his team and program are a work in progress, and he likes what he sees so far.

“We put in an entirely new offense, press break and defense. It’s going to take a while, but we’re moving in the right direction,” said Stitch. “There were two stretches in the game when we held them on eight possessions without scoring. We’re getting it together.”

“I like what we’re seeing. We’ve cut down on turnovers. We played good defense. We just have to put it all together for longer stretches of the time,” he said.

In her first game of the season, Maggie Glaus led Plum City/Elmwood with 15 points. She was second team all Dunn-St. Croix last year.

Senior Anna Blanford scored 14 points, while Hannah Forster and Lily Webb had eight points each. Hailee McDonough scored four.

Plum City/Elmwood hosts Elk Mound Friday night at Plum City High School and hosts Spring Valley Tuesday at Elmwood High School. Games tip off at 7:15 p.m.

It’s tough for all teams with so many quarantine situations, knowing who can suit up night to night.

“You have to look at the positives, though. It’s going to give some younger girls some time on the court who might not have had it. This is all building for the future,” Stitch said. “We’ll get there.”

Plum City/Elmwood is 1-2 overall and 0-1 in the Dunn-St. Croix Conference.