Team continues to dominate opponents with hot shooting, stout defense
By Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
The Whitewater High School girls basketball team improved to 14-0 overall following the three latest wins for the team – all of them dominated by the Lady Whippets.
The team’s latest round of victories began with a 73-40 thrashing of Clinton Jan. 13.
Rebekah Schumacher led all scorers with 18 points in the game while Myriama Smith-Traore contributed 12, Kailey Reynolds, 11 and Sarah Schumacher, 10.
“I was very happy with our first quarter surge of 29 points,” head coach Judy Harms said after the game. “(We had) baskets from seven different players. We continue to produced balanced stats, which is key to sustaining our success.”
The undefeated squad was staring down a rematch with Brodhead, the team that knocked them out of the playoffs last season. Before that could be the focus, though, they needed to take care of business against East Troy.
Improving to 13-0 on the season was not difficult as the Whippets put East Troy away easily 72-32. Whitewater allowed double digit scoring in only one quarter of the game. They led big at the half and put the game away with a 24-1 third quarter.
Again, four players scored in double figures, this time led by Sarah Schumacher’s 22 with Smith-Traore chipping in 16 while Melanie Martinez and Rebekah Schumacher had 10 points apiece.
With East Troy in the rearview mirror, the Whippets could now focus solely on Brodhead, a game they had been waiting for to atone for last season coming to an end.
Whitewater dominated with the game never being close. In fact, Brodhead only managed seven points in the entire second half. The 73-31 drubbing gave the Whippets their 14th straight victory and secured the team a place in Whitewater High School’s record books with the longest win streak in school history.
“It was a very physical game, but I’m really proud of how the girls played tonight,” Harms said. “I love the ‘team’ mentality, in that everyone is contributing in some fashion, and that makes us a very dangerous team to go up against.”
Harms said when bench players stepped up, something she has been looking for out of the team.
“When a player, Keely Fiedler, can come off the bench and score 12 points, and Whitney Treder’s scrappiness sparks us at the heat of the moment, that brings true depth to our team. We have been consistently balanced, and just need to continue down that same road each game,” Harms said.
Sarah Schumacher led the way with 16, Smith-Traore had 13, and Melanie Martinez added 10.
Whitewater sank 80 percent of its free throws in the second half.
“That’s an area we need to shine should a game come down to the wire,” Harms said.
With regional competition about a month out, the team hopes to continue to shine and extend its win streak record in the process.
