Badger Lincoln Wieseman goes up for a shot against the Broncos Jan. 18. Wieseman was high scorer with 16 points. Union Grove beat Lake Geneva 56-54.
By Michael S. Hoey
CORRESPONDENT
The Lake Geneva Badger basketball teams split a double header with Union Grove last Friday night. The Badger girls hosted Union Grove in Game One winning 50-41. The boys lost a nail biter 56-54 in the nightcap.
The girls maintained their lock on second place in the Southern Lakes Conference at 6-1 (8-4 overall) with their win. Badger struggled to score in the first quarter and was cold from behind the three-point arc all night making just four, but still led 10-9 at the end of one.
Toward the end of the first quarter the Badgers found their way offensively as Karina Reeves, who led all scorers with 26 points, began driving to the hoop either scoring or getting fouled. Reeves scored eight of Badger’s ten points in the quarter, four from the charity stripe.
Union Grove (5-8, 3-4 SLC) kept things close in the second quarter and trailed just 22-19 at the half. Reeves added three more free throws, a basket, and a three pointer to finish the first half with 16.
The first half ended with some drama as Union Grove attempted to inbound the ball, drive the length of the court, and get off a shot before the buzzer. They succeeded but the shot did not fall. Union Grove Coach Rob Domagalski was so incensed that no foul was called on the play that he slammed his hand on the scorers’ table and drew a technical foul.
Because the infraction occurred after the horn had sounded, Reeves began the second half by making the two free throws and the Badgers got the ball. With that momentum Badger quickly opened up its biggest lead of the game to that point at eight points and later pushed it to 13 by the end of the quarter.
After making her two free throws, Reeves scored again on a drive and Tristan Sproul made a three-pointer to open up the eight-point lead at 29-21. Badger then began using an aggressive full court-trapping defense that slowed the Bronco offense and led to turnovers. Reeves closed out the third quarter by making a three just before the buzzer. Badger led 39-26.
Badger got into some foul trouble early in the fourth quarter with center Lilly Quinn and Sproul both picking up their fourth fouls, but they managed to play through it. Natalie Ortego came off the bench to answer a Bronco three-pointer with one of her own and a basket by Sproul gave the Badgers a 15-point lead at 44-29.
Badger still led by 12 late in the game when Union Grove began fouling to stop the clock. Badger went just 7 for 15 from the line during that stretch but held on. The Broncos did get the lead down to eight at 47-39 with just over a minute to play but that was as close as they would come.
In addition to Reeves’ 26, Sproul added 12. No one else had more than three. No one from Union Grove had more than eight (Sarah Petrovic and Lexi Marsh).
The Badgers defeated Kenosha Tremper (4-9) on the road in non-conference action 40-27 on January 14. Badger built up a 19-7 halftime lead and Tremper could not recover. Reeves led the way with 12 points.
The Badgers hosted Big Foot Monday night and play at Fort Atkinson on Saturday.
Boys lose to Broncos
The boys went back and forth with Union Grove all night long in the second game last Friday but came up short in the end 56-54.
Union Grove used a 7-0 run to close the first quarter with a 15-9 lead including a basket by Andrew Kazikowski, who led the Broncos with 13 points, just before the buzzer.
Badger used four three-pointers in the first three minutes of the second quarter to storm back and take the lead 21-19 on a bomb by Derrick Buntrock. Another three by Jake Berhorst gave the Badgers five threes in the quarter. Badger closed the half with a 9-2 run to lead 30-27 at the half.
Rob Slagle opened the third quarter with a basket to extend the Badger lead to five but the Broncos got five quick points from Alex Hale to tie the score at 32. Things remained even until late in the third quarter when Union Grove used a 9-0 run to build up a 46-37 lead. The Broncos led 46-39 at the break.
A three-pointer by Lincoln Wieseman cut the deficit to 46-42 but two quick baskets by the broncos pushed the lead back to eight. Another three-pointer by Berhorst cut the lead to 54-49.
With just over a minute to play Wieseman made a basket to make it 54-51. Wieseman was fouled on the play but missed the free throw. He did get his own rebound but was tied up before he could shoot. Badger got the ball on the alternate possession but Berhorst saw his three-pointer go in and out.
After Cody Walters made two free throws for Union Grove, Berhorst made a three that cut the lead to 56-54. Walters then missed two free throws giving Badger the ball and a chance to tie or win it.
Berhorst missed a three with 20 seconds left and Ian Weber missed another with three seconds left. Union Grove’s Jacob Fink came down with the rebound and was fouled. He also missed both free throws again giving Badger a chance to tie or win but there were only 1.8 seconds on the clock. Weber’s long desperation shot at the buzzer was no good and the Broncos escaped with the win.
Wieseman led the Badgers with 16. Berhorst added nine. In addition to Kazikowski’s 13, Union Grove got 11 from Fink and 10 from Hale.
