Girls Basketball Blogs
Big Games slated for tonight
by
Jennie Adrian,
1/6/2009
If you are just sitting around tonight fighting off the post holiday blues, here are a couple of games that might be worth taking in.
Oak Creek (5-2) hosts Muskego (8-1). Oak Creek is led by senior Steph Running and junior Angela Rodriguez while Muskego has suffered only one loss, to D1 powerhouse Milwaukee Vincent.
Undefeated Cuba City (6-0) hosts (6-1) Riverdale. The Cubans look to continue their domination in the southwest portion of the state with the help of junior trio Megan Moor, Katie Langmeier and Amanda Kaiser. Riverdale will not be an easy opponent, however, as they have a veteran senior class and three girls averaging double figures.
Milwaukee Lutheran (4-3) vs. Cedarburg (5-3). The North Shore Conference always does its part in providing close games and this one will surely be one of them. In the NSC as well, Grafton takes on Nicolet tonight. Grafton has senior Sarah Eichler who is putting up monster numbers this season so far. Both of these games should be crowd pleasers.
Platteville vs. Monroe is sure to be exciting with one of the leading scores in the state, sophomore Lauren Wruble and the always electric Monroe Cheesemakers who are working on defending their state title from last season.
West survives scare, Gregorich commits and other big news from the weekend
by
Jennie Adrian,
1/6/2009
Pearson helps West survive scare by Parker
West senior Ellie Pearson (pictured) circles the Janesville Parker game on her calendar every year. She has gotten to know Parker senior Catie O'Leary through the years and enjoys when these two teams collide. Last weekend was no exception.
Pearson scored a game high 21 points, 15 of which came in the fourth quarter and overtime. This last quarter surge helped West overcome a 21 point deficit. The regents trailed 42-21 heading into the fourth quarter but went on a 27-6 run, led by Pearson to force overtime. O'Leary felt up to the challenge by racking up 15 points of her own. But, in the end, Madison West and Ellie Pearson were too much for Parker to handle as West defeated Parker by a score of 57 to 52 in overtime.
Gregorich to River Falls
Brittany Gregorich of Altoona, has made a decision to play basketball next year along side of her sister at UW-River Falls. Brittany, who is averaging 13.8 points, 10 rebounds and 3 assists per game for the Lady Rains will give Falls another talented young player to help them make noise in the always talented WIAC.
Other notables from last weekend
Kiah Simon had a game high 23 points as she helped Algoma saty undefeated as they beat Wautoma by a score of 60 to 22. Junior
Sara Trochinski (Berlin) broke a school single game record as she went a perfect 11 for 11 from the free throw line as Berlin lost to Little Chute 53-61.
Week 6 Girls Basketball Coaches Poll
by
Travis Wilson,
1/6/2009
Editor's Note: Due to the Holiday break there was no Week 5 Poll
Week 6 Coaches Poll Division 1 Milwaukee Vincent remained in the top spot, but several teams behind them have suffered defeats since the last coaches poll came out. Former #2 Divine Savior Holy Angels was upset by New Berlin Eisenhower in a non-conference game. The loss dropped the Dashers to #6. #3 De Pere took on #13 Milwaukee King in the championship of the Sentry Classic. It was the wrong time to run into the Generals. King came in with
heavy hearts due to the death of former player Keena Phillips and vowed to play the game in her memory. A 66-50 domination by King was the result. They appear to be back on track after a couple early season losses to out of state teams and have jumped up to #4 in the latest poll. Mukwonago and Sheboygan North join Vincent as the only unbeatens in DI and occupy the number two and three spots respectively. Former #4 Oak Creek suffered two losses in the Ashwaubenon Holiday Classic (to Marshfield and host Ashwaubenon) and dropped all the way down to #14. The rest of the Top 15 avoided losses and moved up accordingly.
Division 2 Monroe and Columbus remain in a dog-fight for the top spot, and the Cheesemakers were able to retain the #1 ranking thanks in large part to a
buzzer-beating shot from Ashley Hermanson that gave them a 49-47 win over D1 D.C. Everest at the WBCA Holiday Classic. Former #3 Fox Valley Lutheran dropped a league game to Winneconne and slipped to #13. Eastern Valley Conference rivals Freedom and Ripon are also in the Top 15 at #4 and #8 respectively. Much of the rest of the Top 15 moved up one spot while Reedsburg (taking the place of Cudahy) is the only new addition at #15.
Division 3 The top seven teams all remained unbeaten and their spots in the poll unchanged. Spots 8-10 however all saw a loss. #8 Parkview fell to Black Hawk and dropped to #11. #9 Mondovi and #10 Eau Claire Regis both suffered their second defeats on the season and Regis dropped out of the rankings in favor of Markesan. Markesan began the pre-season ranked #3 but suffered a couple tough early losses. They've come back strong though, winning the Pecatonica Holiday Tournament with quality wins over Mineral Point and Weston, both teams that have been ranked at times in their respective divisions.
Division 4 Flambeau retained the top spot thanks to a win over Lakeland in the Lakeland Holiday Tournament championship. #2 Barneveld however could not escape defeat, falling 62-61 to Lakeside Lutheran in the opening round of the Fort Atkinson Christmas Tournament. The loss dropped the Eagles to #7. Former #7 Wausaukee also lost their first game of the year to Peshtigo and dropped two spots to #9. Former #9 Pecatonica has played one of the toughest schedules in D4 when you factor in the always competitive Six Rivers-East Conference plus a non-conference schedule that featured Mineral Point, Weston, and Wausau Newman. Those last three teams all defeated Pecatonica in the last week and a half, dropping the Vikings record to 5-4 and out of the Coaches Poll. With the help of losses to teams towards the bottom of the rankings Randolph and Almond-Bancroft slipped in.
Girls Basketball Holiday Tournaments Wrap-up
by
Travis Wilson,
12/31/2008
Before we get into the Holiday Tournaments that were held over the last week or so, there were a couple nice stories that came out recently. One centers around two opposing coaches that may
share a smooch after their game, rather than a handshake.
Freedom girls coach Mike Vander Loop and
Wrightstown girls coach Jen Drobnick met at the WIAA state tournament several years ago and are now engaged. Their first date? Watching the NCAA Tournament at a Buffalo Wild Wings. The other story that caught my eye was the return of
former Lancaster athlete Brianna Klaas to the UW-Platteville lineup. Klaas missed all of last season while being
treated for Hodgkin's Lymphoma. She is now cancer-free and at the Clarke College Tournament against Mount Mercy College (my alma mater) made her first start since 2006. She acquitted herself nicely with 18 points in 23 minutes although the Pioneers fell to the Mustangs 79-64.
In tournament action,
Arrowhead defeated host
Cedarburg 40-37 to capture the
title at the Niki Doedens Memorial Tournament while
Muskego won the Optimist Classic by defeating host
Janesville Craig 57-38. The Niki Doedens Tournament is in honor of former Cedarburg student-athlete Niki Doedens who was involved in a fatal car crash in 2004.
Lomira won the
KSA National Invite Rosa Parks bracket title in Orlando, Florida. The Lions were surprised when they arrived in Florida to find they'd been moved from the small school division to the large school. They ended up facing (and beating) Orlando Boone, the largest high school in the state of Florida, but made a very nice showing in winning all three of their games over the extended weekend.
Campbellsport won the
Monona Grove tournament with Kelsie Benike being named MVP.
West De Pere took the title in
their own Holiday Classic by defeating
Wautoma 61-31.
Milwaukee Pius knocked off host
Sheboygan South to win the
Redwing Holiday Tournament.
Eau Claire North topped
Marshfield 42-39 in the title game of the
Ashwaubenon Holiday Classic. Sam Price (pictured) and Whitney Rawdon were named to the All-Tournament team.
Markesan started the season 1-2, but have rebounded nicely. They won the championship game of the Pecatonica Tournament
over Mineral Point after beating Weston the day before.
Lakeside Lutheran knocked off host Fort Atkinson to claim the title in the Fort Christmas Tournament. The Warriors beat D4's second-ranked
Barneveld in the
opening round.
In non-tournament action, D4 #4
Black Hawk took down D3 #8
Parkview by a score of 59-51. Just before Christmas the #2 team in Division 1
Divine Savior Holy Angels lost a non-conference game to
New Berlin Eisenhower.
With Heavy Hearts, Milwaukee King Takes Home Sentry Classic Championship
by
Travis Wilson,
12/30/2008
With Heavy Hearts, Milwaukee King Takes Home Sentry Classic National Division Championship The
Milwaukee King girls basketball team experienced a roller-coaster of emotions over this past weekend. Despite taking home a championship in the Sentry Classic against very good competition, their thoughts were thousands of miles away.
Keena Phillips, a 2004 graduate of King and former All-City player for the Generals, was killed in an automobile accident on her way from Milwaukee to Newberry, South Carolina. Phillips was a senior captain for the Newberry College women's basketball team. She was on a basketball scholarship at the Division II school studying to become a school psychologist.
The effect of this news could be seen in both of the Generals games over the weekend. On Saturday the Generals played a closer than expected game with
Stevens Point before
pulling out a 65-55 victory in the opening round of the 37th Sentry Classic National Division (large school division). The following day the team was scheduled to take on
DePere, who had
defeated Janesville Parker 50-49 in their opening round game. DePere came in undefeated and ranked #3 in the latest WisSports.net Coaches Poll behind UW-Green Bay recruit Adrian Ritchie. What ensued was some of the best high school girls basketball I've ever witnessed in person.
I was in Stevens Point on the UW-Stevens Point campus to film the game for our website. With so much individual talent on both sides (Simmons is headed to Marquette and Story to Louisville, King senior Asia McMillan is going to Eastern Michigan; as well as Ritchie) I expected a great game, but a competitive game. The Generals came out with a determination to honor Phillips, who had stayed close with the program and worked with several of the current players. Simmons, Story, and fellow senior Lanae Rash put on a a clinic of moves, shots, and overall basketball skill that few girls players in the state could match. The trio scored in every way imaginable; cross-over step back jumpers, nifty spin moves, aggressive drives to the hoop, precision outlet passes leading to easy layups, and even sweet shooting from outside. The 6'1'' Simmons displayed a smooth stroke connecting on a three point basket during the barrage. Only the all-around impressive play of DePere's Adrian Ritchie kept the game somewhat close (if you can call a 15 point halftime lead close). The King trio of Simmons, Story, and Rash combined for 52 of the team's points as they
went on to win 66-50. Afterwards Rachel Story told former King coach Alina Cunningham: "We did it for Keena." Well done ladies.
Friends have set up a fund to defray costs of returning Phillips' body to Milwaukee for funeral services. Donations can be sent to: Keena Phillips Memorial Fund, 2107 W. Neil Place, Milwaukee, WI 53209. In the consolation game of the National Division
Janesville Parker defeated SPASH 52-44 behind 26 points from Catie O'Leary.
Amherst Takes Home American Division Crown The
Amherst girls basketball team picked up two solid wins on their way to claiming the Sentry Classic American Division (small schools) championship. In the opening game the
Falcons rallied to defeat Eau Claire Regis 54-50. Meanwhile on the other side of the bracket
Edgar took care of Stevens Point Pacelli 46-22. Amherst
continued their mastery over Edgar in the finals by taking a 78-51 win. Amherst has knocked Edgar out of the state playoffs each of the past three seasons. In the consolation game
Regis easily handled Pacelli 60-29.