Comets lose to Burlington, move to 4-9
By Jennifer Cesarz
Correspondent
The Delavan-Darien High School girls basketball team picked up two Southern Lakes Conference wins last week.
The Comets beat Burlington 49-39 and Elkhorn 49-45 before falling to Burlington, 38-31 to move to 4-9 in the conference.
“I thought we played with great confidence while riding a three-game win streak,” D-DHS head coach Hank Johnson said. “We were playing very good basketball while limiting our turnovers. However I think playing three games in a week caught up to us, and we had an emotional and mental breakdown in the game with Burlington.”
The Comets started their week Feb. 18 when they hosted Burlington and won 49-39. The Comets shot 46 percent from the field in the win, helping to lift them to the victory.
“I thought we did a great job of limiting them to offensive rebounds and wide open shots,” Johnson said. “We were able to run our offense and take time off the clock.”
After an evenly matched first quarter resulted in a 12-12 tie, the Comets outscored the Demons 14-12 in the second quarter to take the 26-24 halftime lead.
The Comets continued to build on their lead in the second half, outscoring Burlington 23-15 to go on for the 49-39 win.
Jennah Speth had 12 points to lead the Comets, and Kylie Collins added 10 points and four assists.
Alex Lewis had 10 points, Megan Butke added nine, and Claudia Nieuwenhuis had six.
Butke added six rebounds.
In a make-up game in Elkhorn on Feb. 19, the Comets beat the Elks 49-45.
Again the Comets had a strong shooting night, making 45 percent of their shots.
“In Elkhorn we decided to come out and try to stop their best player (Erin Schahczinski), and I give credit to Macie Hill, Claudia Nieuwenhuis and Jennah Speth for taking the challenge,” Johnson said.
“With it being a rivalry game you never know what to expect, and Elkhorn did a great job in the fourth quarter getting the game close,” Johnson said. “We were happy with the way the team learned from earlier season close losses and we were able to close the game out.”
It was another tight first-quarter game with both teams scoring 13 before the Comets scored nine in the second quarter while holding Elkhorn to only two points to take the 22-15 halftime lead.
The Comets built their lead to 34-25 going into the fourth quarter and held on for the win despite being outscored by the Elks 20-15 in the final quarter.
Collins led the Comets with 12 points, seven rebounds and five assists.
Speth added nine points and five rebounds, and Lewis had nine points.
Butke added seven points and six assists, and Nieuwenhuis had six points and two steals.
In Burlington on Friday night, it was a low-scoring game until the third quarter with the Comets down 13-11 at halftime.
The Comets outscored the Demons 16-14 in the third quarter but the Demons held the Comets to only four points in the fourth quarter, giving the Comets the 38-31 loss.
Collins had 13 points, and Hill added six.
“We turned the ball over too much and could not make shots in the paint,” Johnson said.
The Comets finish up their regular season tonight when they travel to Union Grove for a 7 p.m. game.
Tuesday the Comets start Wisconsin Interscholastic Athletic Association regional play when they host Milton at 7 p.m.
