By Chris Bennett
Correspondent
The Elkhorn Area High School boys basketball team is coming off of two close losses as it prepares for Friday’s Southern Lakes Conference game at home against Westosha Central.
The Elks lost 50-41 Feb. 5 at Badger and 60-55 Feb. 2 at Burlington in Southern Lakes Conference games.
Westosha (12-5, 9-2 SLC) is in first place in the SLC. Elkhorn (6-12, 2-9 SLC) plays a non-conference game Feb. 16 at Monona Grove.
“Both were tough losses,” Elks coach Josh Skatrud said of the games against Badger and Burlington. “We played really well defensively in both games, but had tough shooting nights. It’s especially frustrating because both were winnable.”
Elkhorn led Badger (9-7, 8-3 SLC) 23-20 at halftime.
“We played really well defensively and were leading at half,” Skatrud said. “Our offense was terrible in the second half. Turnovers really hurt us, and we did not shoot well.”
Badger rallied and outscored the Elks 30-18 in the second half.
Alex Easterday led the Elks with 19 points. Shane Piasecki scored 11. Chase Kruger led Badger with 13 and Jake Berhorst added 12.
Against Burlington (8-9, 7-4 SLC) the Elks trailed 25-21 at halftime.
“We played pretty well, with very good effort defensively,” Skatrud said. “We had a bad stretch about mid-way through the second half that cost us defensively.”
The Demons outscored the Elks 35-34 in the second half, which makes Elkhorn’s defensive lapse loom large.
Easterday led the Elks with 20 points. Jack Keller added 11. Cal Tully led the Demons with 15 points.
Elkhorn is winless against Burlington since the teams joined the current incarnation of the Southern Lakes Conference prior to the 2009-10 school year.
Elkhorn beat Burlington twice in non-conference play in the 2008-09 season, when the Elks played in a previous lineup of the SLC and the Demons played in the Southeast Conference.
The Elks lost 72-63 Dec. 13 at home against Burlington and 77-70 Dec. 18 at Badger in SLC games this season the first time through the conference schedule.
Elkhorn has lost 10 games by 10 points or less this season.
“We seem to have a bad stretch in games that costs us,” Skatrud said. “Either we turn the ball over, or go cold from the field, or have some bad possessions on defense. I think we are all frustrated with being so close all the time and not being able to get over the hump.”
Skatrud said the team is improving defensively, and looks forward to hopefully surging at the end of the regular season and playoffs approach.
“While obviously we would love to be winning more games we are making some strides defensively,” Skatrud said. “We have some practice time this week to see if we can clean up the offense and hopefully finish strong down the stretch.”
