By David Paulsen
Correspondent
After building a seven-point halftime lead, the Whitewater High School boys basketball team was dominated by Lake Geneva Badger in the second half and fell 55-39 Monday in a non-conference game at home. The loss dropped the Whippets to 1-11 overall.
The Whippet boys led 12-8 after one quarter and built that to 21-14 at the half.
It did not take long for Badger to wipe out the seven-point deficit, as Lake Geneva outscored Whitewater 23-10 in the third quarter to take a 37-31 lead into the final period. An 18-8 margin in the fourth provided the 16-point win for Badger.
“We played OK the first half,” head coach Dan Gnatzig said. “We just didn’t come out of the gate in the second half. They outhustled us and got second chances.”
Brett Harms led the Whippets with 15 points, but no one else had more than six.
Whitewater was just six of 13 from the free-throw line, while Badger was 17 of 26.
Vs. East Troy
On Friday, the Whippet boys traveled to East Troy to take on the fifth-ranked Trojans. Whitewater stayed with East Troy for about 1-1/2 quarters before the Trojans kicked it into high gear. The result was a 68-30 loss to the Trojans.
East Troy led 15-9 after one quarter, and Gnatzig said the Whippets were still down by about 10 halfway through the second quarter. But by the half, the Trojans had exploded to a 34-13 lead and never looked back.
“They started to pressure us more,” Gnatzig said as the reason for the sudden burst by East Troy.
Whitewater managed just three points in the third quarter as East Troy built a 51-16 lead into the final period.
No Whitewater player scored in double figures in this game. Rigo Navejas led the Whippets with nine points, followed by Harms with eight.
East Troy had three players in double figures, led by Nate Dodge with 17. Alex Prahl had 15 and Brett Prahl had 14.
The loss dropped Whitewater to 1-6 in the Rock Valley Conference. East Troy is 7-0.
Schedule
The Whippets hosted Rock Valley South opponent Palmyra-Eagle on Thursday. Palmyra-Eagle is 1-5 in the RVC South and 6-5 overall.
On Saturday, Jan. 12, at 5 p.m., the boys will host Elkhorn in a non-conference matchup.
Next week, Whitewater will be at Brodhead (1-6 in the RVC South) on Tuesday, Jan. 15, at 7:15 p.m., and will host McFarland (6-1 RVC North) on Friday, Jan. 18, at 7:15 p.m.
BOX SCORES
Vs. Lake Geneva Badger
LG 8 6 23 18 – 55
WW 12 9 10 8 – 39
WW: Harms 15, Pelayo 6, Cooper 5, Hayes 4, Schumacher 4, Gorsuch 2, Tautges 2, Navejas 1
Vs. East Troy
WW 9 4 3 14 – 30
ET 15 19 17 17 – 68
WW: Navejas 9, Harms 8, Tautges 5, Pelayo 3, Hayes 2, Stall 2
