Smith-Traore honored for hitting 1,000 points
By Kevin Cunningham
Sports Correspondent
Whitewater High School’s girls basketball team may have started off the season with a loss, but since then, the team has won five straight games. According to the latest wissports.com coaches poll, the Whippets rank No. 3 in the state within Division 3.
This past week, Whitewater had two opponents and had extremely similar offensive and defensive outputs when referring to the scoreboard. In the first game, against Parkview on Dec. 8, the Whippets won, 61-29.
In its second contest, against Big Foot on Dec. 13, the Whippets clinched another 30-point victory, winning, 61-31. The games against Parkview and Big Foot came both on the road and were the fourth and fifth straight games the team has had to play away from home.
To this early point in the season, Whitewater is 0-1 at home and 5-0 on the road. To somewhat compensate for the massive road trip, the Whippets will get its next five games at home.
Against Parkview to start the week, Whitewater more than doubled Parkview to begin the game, going into halftime with a 31-15 lead. From there, the Whippets kept up its defensive pressure to win by 32 points.
“The girls reached many goals we had established going into tonight’s contest,” Whitewater head coach Judy Harms said. “We did a nice job holding Parkview under 30 points and focused to keep our turnovers under 20. Maintaining high intensity throughout the entire game was also a goal and I’m proud of the girls’ effort to do just that.”
Prior to the game, Myriama Smith-Traore was honored with a presentation of a framed picture, illustrating her accomplishment in scoring 1,000 points as a Whippet – something she did earlier this season. In response, the senior forward scored a game-high 20 points.
Three different players would score more than 10, as Rebekah Schumacher had 14, while Ali Ketterhagen added 12. In the next game, against Big Foot, the same script took place.
Whitewater opened up to a 31-13 halftime lead, eventually resulting in the 30-point victory. Despite what seemed to be a cruising victory for the Whippets, Harms commented about how the team needs to play better.
“Although it was a win, we need to play at the level we are capable of,” she said. “We missed too many bunnies, and need to improve on our ball control. Turning the ball over 26 times is simply unacceptable. Maintaining our intensity level and cleaning up our mistakes will be the main focus as we take on Evansville at home this Friday evening.”
Much like in the win against Parkview, it was a team effort in the scoring department. Schumacher led all scorers with 17, while Smith-Traore added 16. Ketterhagen and Miranda Reynolds both scored 10 apiece as well.
As Harms mentioned, the team’s next game is a home contest against Evansville at 7:15 p.m. on Friday. That game is designated as parent’s night and will be the team’s first home game since over a month ago on Nov. 15.
Following the Evansville game will be another 7:15 p.m. start on Dec. 20 against Jefferson at home.
