By Dan Truttschel
Sports Correspondent
The talent possessed by the Whitewater girls basketball team hasn’t been a secret for a while now.
And that doesn’t appear to be ending any time soon.
Whitewater, which won the WIAA Division 3 state title two years ago and currently is ranked third, jumped out to a 31-13 halftime lead Tuesday night en route to a 61-31 win over host Big Foot.
The loss dropped the Chiefs to 5-3 overall and 3-1 in the RVC, while the Whippets improved to 5-1 and 4-0 in the RVC.
Reagan Courier led Big Foot with 11 points, followed by Olivia Briggs with 10 and Payton Courier with six.
The loss Tuesday came on the heels of a two-game split for the Chiefs to open the week.
Big Foot beat host Jefferson 65-51 on Dec. 8, followed by a 56-47 non-conference loss Saturday at Burlington.
The Demons led 27-25 at halftime before they pulled away a bit in the final 18 minutes.
Big Foot coach Rick Schoenbeck said his team struggled some to get into a rhythm.
“They spread us out, and we were slow on defense, especially help side,” he said. “Being a non-conference game, we experimented with some girls and things we wanted to work on
“I think it took a toll on the team aspect, and we did not play smoothly together. That was expected, but hopefully it will pay off in our conference games. They shot very well, and we did not play the normal defense we usually do. We gave up a season-high 57 points, and that is too much.”
Schoenbeck said Burlington used a 1-2-2 zone in the first half, and his team struggled to shoot from the outside.
“Their three athletic players did a nice job in the paint defending and kept us from getting easy shots,” he said. “We moved the ball very slowly and were out of sync on offense.”
Briggs led the way with 19 points, followed by Wellhausen with eight and Reagan Courier with seven.
Courier is one of three freshmen – the two others are Viola Larson and Olivia Peterson – who have been brought up to the varsity, Schoenbeck said. With the loss of his daughter, Courtney, to a torn ACL, Courier will play more of a role, he said.
“She did well in this game and has shown improvement in all areas we have asked her to work on,” he said. “Her work ethic, speed, shooting ability and ball handling will help this varsity team more and more as the year progresses.
“We have groomed her to be a contributor on the varsity team, and now we need her to fill a role vacated by Courtney’s injury.”
Big Foot hosted Clinton Thursday night in an RVC battle with the Cougars and traveled to Parkview Tuesday to face the Vikings at 7:15 p.m.
Second half lifts Chiefs
Big Foot trailed 27-26 at halftime but outscored the Eagles 39-24 in the second to cruise to the 14-point win.
Briggs led the way with 23 points, followed by Payton Courier with 14 and Wellhausen with nine.
“(Briggs had a) great all-around game,” Schoenbeck said. “She has become my first true point guard and the leader on this team. (She is) an amazingly strong and fast player who this team looks up to in many ways for her hustle, work ethic and leadership.”
