Girls take second at invitational
By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Badger High School boys basketball team struggled early in figuring out Whitewater’s zone defense early but pulled away in the second quarter for a 64-39 non-conference road win on Jan. 2.
The Badgers made just eight out of 28 three-point attempts overall, many of those misses coming in the first quarter against the packed-in Whippet zone. Badger managed just six points in the quarter – on two three-pointers by Bryant Sontag and Jake Berhorst. Whitewater struggled to score as well, and the quarter ended with Badger down 9-6.
“They (Whitewater) were real fortunate we were missing our threes,” Badger coach Forrest Larson said. “We had some good looks.”
While the Badgers never really heated up from long range, they hit enough to keep Whitewater honest and found other ways to penetrate the zone. Badger had little success getting the ball inside in the first quarter but much more success the rest of the game.
“We had good composure against the zone,” Larson said about the turnaround. “We got some good looks and hit our shots.”
Badger took the lead with a 9-2 run in the first three minutes of the second quarter and then took complete command with an 11-0 run near the end of the half and led 26-16 at halftime. Berhorst led the way with three of his six three-pointers.
Berhorst hit another three-pointer for the first points of the third quarter as Badger opened the second half on a 10-4 run to expand the lead to 16 points. Joe Freeman grabbed a rebound and scored on a put-back at the buzzer to give Badger a 43-25 lead after three quarters of play.
Badger did not let up on the gas and pushed the lead to as many as 27 in the fourth quarter.
“The pace of the game was good for us,” Larson said.
“We pushed it hard,” he said. “We had intensity, energy and we played hard.”
Larson said his team still has plenty of improvement it can make.
“Everything is still brand new,” he said about the new systems he has put in place in his first year back coaching the team. “It takes a lot of time, and we have to keep pounding away at practice.”
Badger (4-2, 2-1 Southern Lakes Conference) was led by Berhorst’s 26 points. Chase Kruger added 12. Tyler Hill led Whitewater (2-5) with 12.
Badger hosted Union Grove on Tuesday night and hosts Waterford on Jan. 16.
Girls take second
The Badger girls made it to the championship game of the Badger Invitational on Jan. 3 but lost 41-27 to Ashwaubenon (7-2).
Both teams struggled to score in the first quarter with the Jaguars coming out on top 7-4. The entire game was a defensive struggle as neither team was able to score more than 13 points in any quarter. Badger (7-3, 4-1 SLC) was held to single digits in three quarters and scored just 10 in the second as the Jaguars led 20-14 at the half.
The Badger offense scored just 13 points in the entire second half as Ashwaubenon pulled away for the win.
Badger was led by Lily Quinn’s nine points. Sam Tisa added seven. Lily Brown led the Jaguars with 17.
Badger made it to the championship game by defeating East Troy (1-9) 52-23 in the semi-final Jan. 2. Ashwaubenon defeated Slinger (3-8) in the other semi-final 46-43. Slinger defeated East Troy 56-39 in the consolation game.
Badger hosts Westosha Central on Friday night and Waterford on Jan. 16.
Wrestlers win
The Badgers took first place in an invitational in Mukwonago on Dec. 27.
Badger dominated Milwaukee Pulaski 81-0 in its first match and then went on to defeat Kenosha Bradford 52-22, Mukwonago 36-34, and Hamilton 57-12.
Badger defeated Sauk Prairie 41-28 in the first-place match. Stevie Kraus won a 15-7 major decision over Dylan Herbrand, Robbie Mutimer won by fall over Gavin Lankey, Tim Coyne won by technical fall over Kyle Johnson, George Somerville won a 10-2 major decision over Alec Bader, and Michael Peter won a 7-2 decision over Aaron Hankins before Sauk Prairie was able to win a match. Also earning victories were Tony Howard, Reggie Kelly, Nick Halpin and Cole Mikrut.
Overall the Badgers were led by Mutimer, Howard, Halpin, Mikrut and Peter, who all went 4-0. Somerville, Kelly and Michael Sanders all went 3-1.
