By Michael S. Hoey
Correspondent
The Lake Geneva Badger basketball teams swept a doubleheader against Elkhorn at home on Friday.
The girls defeated the Elks 54-27 in the first game and the boys finished the sweep with a 57-37 win in the nightcap.
The Badger girls came out fast and took command with a 13-2 first quarter and led 31-9 at the half. A 13-2 third quarter ended any hope of an Elkhorn comeback.
Badger (12-8, 8-4 Southern Lakes Conference) was led by Lily Quinn with 14 points. Abbie Kolacke led Elkhorn (2-19, 2-11 SLC) with seven.
The Badger boys also came out strong, leading 17-8 after one quarter and 29-19 at the half. Badger dominated the third quarter 20-5 to pull away.
Badger (12-6, 10-2) was led by Jacob Berhorst’s 20 points. Lincoln Wieseman added 15. Dayne Fisher led the Elks (9-10, 3-9) with 11.
The boys suffered their second conference loss of the season Feb. 6 at Union Grove 71-56. The game was even after one quarter and the Broncos led by three at the half. Union Grove outscored the Badgers 43-31 in the second half to pull away.
“Defensively we could not stop the ball,” coach Forrest Larson said. “They (Union Grove) got it into the paint and made plays.”
Larson said his team struggles at defending the opposing player who dribbles the ball up the court, and they don’t help enough in closing gaps in the defense.
“We made a myriad of defensive mistakes,” Larson said. “We run no offense. If we don’t score in transition it’s like we are lost and don’t run anything.”
Larson said his Badgers need to get more quality shots and do better at playing with composure when the opposing team is making a run. He said they too often help the other team by taking bad shots and failing to move the ball.
“We are going to have to play harder with a lot more pride defensively and more composure offensively,” he said.
The Badgers were led by Berhorst’s 21 points. Wieseman added 14. Union Grove (7-11, 3-8) was led by Alex Van Dyke’s 24 points. Grant Beck added 16.
The girls split two conference games with Burlington and Union Grove on Feb. 3 and Feb. 6.
Badger defeated Burlington 47-46 at home but had to come from behind to do it. The Demons (7-11, 4-7) jumped out to an 18-8 lead after one quarter of play and led 30-19 at the half. But the Badgers battled back in the third quarter holding Burlington to just four points. Badger trailed 34-31 heading into the fourth quarter and outscored Burlington 16-12 to pull off the win.
Badger built up a four-point lead but the Demons battled back to tie. Jennifer Freeman made a free throw that provided the winning margin.
Lily Quinn led Badger with 12 points. Sam Tisa added 11. Ellen Stang was the Demon offense scoring 25 of their 46 points.
Badger lost at Union Grove 53-42. Union Grove (16-2) was undefeated in the SLC (11-0) and ranked ninth in Division 2.
The game was even most of the way. The Broncos led 10-9 after one and 24-21 at the half. Union Grove got some breathing space with a 10-4 third quarter, and Badger was unable to make up the difference.
Quinn led Badger (11-8, 7-4) with 22 points. Sara Hartl led the Broncos with 16.
The Badger girls hosted Wilmot on Tuesday and wrap up the SLC season on Thursday at Waterford. The boys traveled to Kenosha Bradford on Tuesday. They will host Wilmot on Friday and Kenosha Tremper on Monday.
