By David Paulsen
Correspondent
Playing with a lot of energy, the Whitewater High School boys basketball team trailed just 18-14 after one quarter Saturday in a non-conference matchup at Stoughton. But the Whippets were unable to sustain that level of energy in the second half and Stoughton dominated on their way to a 73-33 win.
Although trailing 31-21 at the half, head coach Dan Gnatzig noted the boys were still in the game.
The Whippets came out in the second half and got four quick points, but then everything went downhill from there, as Stoughton outscored Whitewater 27-6 in the third quarter.
“It got away in a hurry,” Gnatzig said. “The game was out of reach by the end of the third quarter.”
In that fateful third quarter, Gnatzig noted that basically every shot Stoughton took went in, while the Whippets could not buy a bucket. Whippet turnovers were turned into Stoughton points.
Gnatzig that Stoughton played about as good as a team can play in the third quarter, while his squad played about as poorly as they could play.
Brett Harms was the sole bright spot for the Whippet, scoring 17 points.
“We need another guy to get an ample amount of scoring,” Gnatzig said, adding that he has some players capable of doing that, but no one has been doing so.
The loss dropped Whitewater to 1-9 overall.
Schedule
The Whippet boys will face East Troy, the No. 3-ranked team in Division 3 in the wissports.net coaches poll, on Friday, Jan. 4, at East Troy.
Whitewater comes into this game 1-5 in the Rock Valley Conference, while East Troy is 6-0 in the RVC.
On Monday, Jan. 7, the boys will host Lake Geneva Badger in a 7:15 p.m. non-conference game.
On Thursday, Jan. 10, they will host Palmyra-Eagle in a 7:15 p.m. RVC matchup.
