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Heading into the weekend, WSN Girls Basketball Expert Jennie Adrian did a great job breaking down some of the big games to look forward to.  The teams and performances certainly lived up to expectations.  Many of the games saw teams come from behind or make big shots at the end to win it.  Sauk Prairie got a lay-up from senior Sarah Osgood with three seconds left for a big win over Reedsburg, forcing a three-way tie atop the Bager-North standings.  Oshkosh West had to go to double-overtime to beat Kaukauna.  That win along with a win by Appleton West on Saturday means the two teams are tied for the Fox Valley Association lead. 



[align=left]Oakfield outscored Oshkosh Lourdes 18-2 in the fourth quarter, capped by a Jamie Nolan three-pointer at the buzzer that gave the Oaks a 37-34 win.  It was just another day and another huge performance from Ripon's Taylor Wurtz.  The senior UW recruit hit two three-pointers from well beyond 25 feet with less than one minute left in the game as Ripon climbed back from a 10 point fourth quarter deficit to force overtime against Eastern Valley rival Freedom.  Wurtz took over in the extra frame, scoring the first two points to stake her team to a lead they would not relinquish as the Tigers won 70-66.  Wurtz finished with 36 points, but her effort would have been all for naught if Freedom would have converted more than 10 of their 30 free throw attempts.  Stevens Point used a go-ahead layup from Jocelin Finn with 11 seconds left to secure a 46-45 win over Wausau West.

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Grafton avenged their only loss of the year by beating Homestead 42-34.  A self-described "bitter" Sarah Eichler (pictured left) took out her anger on the Highlanders by scoring a game-high 19 points.  Mukwonago continued their unbeaten season by edging Kettle Moraine 43-38 in a Classic 8 battle.  Monroe turned their season around with a 19-0 second-quarter dominance of Oregon en route to a 65-36 win.  The performance helped Monroe get back on track after back-to-back home losses.  Middleton took home a Big Eight win over Madison West on Saturday to stay atop the league standings. 



Manitowoc Roncalli suffered a couple early setbacks, but have now won eight straight games after dispatching Reedsville in an Olympican Conference matchup.  Potosi will face Black Hawk for the second time in less than a week on Monday.  The teams matched up Tuesday night in the Six Rivers Challenge with both teams ranked in the top five of the WSN Coaches Poll and sporting undefeated records.  The Chieftains of Potosi won the first matchup and have used great depth all year to pressure and harass their opponents in Coach Darby Blakeley's attacking defense.  West Salem picked up the pace in the second quarter of their Coulee Classic matchup with Arcadia at the LaCrosse Center on Saturday.  The result was a 37-19 halftime lead on the way to a 64-40 win.



Many fans of girls basketball in the state of Wisconsin are familiar with Milwaukee Vincent's Nicole Griffin.  The 6'6'' junior is certainly hard to miss.  But unless you've seen her play this year, you may not recognize her on the court.  Griffin has gone from a role player content to defer to older players to being "The Girl" for Coach Marquis Hines.  She's channeled her passive personality to become more aggressive and assertive on the court.  She's beginning to dominate games, and also catch the attention of even more college recruiters.  Of course she still thinks of her late father, former Vincent coach Chris Griffin, as she prepares for games.