By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Badger High School girls basketball team suffered its first loss of the season in a non-conference match-up with Kenosha Tremper in Kenosha on Nov. 20. The game was much closer than the final score indicated.
Tremper won the game 67-52, but the Badgers were down by just one point with four minutes to play. Coach David Jooss said the Badgers just did not play well in those last four minutes.
The Badgers led for almost the entire first half. Tremper took a 2-0 lead. Seneca Peterson tied it with a basket for the Badgers. LuAnnabelle Wieseman gave the Badgers a lead with a basket and the Badgers led the rest of the first half.
The Badgers used an 8-2 run to go up 16-7 with 9:30 to play in the half. Tremper fought right back and cut the lead to 16-13 on a three-pointer by Brianna Pacetti. The Badgers then re-asserted themselves and pushed the lead back up to eight points on a three-pointer by Ashlyn Welch with just over six minutes to play. The Badgers maintained that lead and even pushed it to 10, their largest lead of the night, at 29-19 with 2:40 to play. A Tremper basket at the buzzer made it 30-23 at the half.
Tremper came out hot to start the second half. Including the basket to end the first half, Tremper went on a 10-0 run to take a 31-10 lead. Wieseman put the Badgers back on top with a basket and the two teams traded the lead 14 times over the bulk of the second half. Then the wheels fell off for the Badgers.
Badger held its last lead at 49-46 on baskets by Welch and Wieseman. Tremper scored to go on top 50-49 and never relinquished the lead, outscoring the Badgers 22-7 to end the game.
Welch and Wieseman led the Badgers with 14 points apiece. Jada Moss, in her return from an ankle injury, scored seven.
Turnovers might have made the difference in the game. Badger turned it over 33 times and Tremper scored 30 points off of those turnovers. The Badgers scored just nine points off of 18 Tremper turnovers. Tremper (1-1) also outscored Badger 14-4 on fast break opportunities.
The Badgers (2-1) traveled to Kettle Moraine on Tuesday for its final non-conference tune-up. On Friday, the Badgers will host Waterford in the Southern Lakes Conference opener for both teams.
