By Adam Knoll
Sports correspondent
With the holidays past, the Whitewater High School girls’ basketball team stepped back onto the court against Stoughton last Saturday night. Riding a three game winning streak, the Lady Whippets were concentrating on making the most out of a brief non-conference stretch in their schedule.
Coming out of the gate strong, the Whippets led 17-9 after the first period and 25-23 at halftime after a minor Stoughton run made the game close before heading to the locker rooms.
If Whitewater intended to come out blazing in the third quarter, their momentum was stalled as Brooke Trewyn, the team’s leading scorer, sprained her ankle early on in the period. Perhaps in trying to figure out where the spark was supposed to come from, Whitewater only managed 8 points in the third quarter, though their defense was stifling, giving up a season low four points.
In the fourth quarter, the Whippets seemed to get things worked out, finishing the game on a 15-7 run to close the game out 48-34, earning the team it’s fourth straight victory. After the game though, most of what was talked about was either Trewyn’s ankle, or how the team responded as a group.
“Rebekah Schumacher stepped up big by hitting a key three pointer, and an incredible coast-to-coast play to open up the gates for us,” explained head coach Judy Harms.
“Dani Dolan also stepped up in the fourth quarter with needed intensity from her. She connected on some key slashes to the basket. (We) produced some balanced scoring in a great team victory,” Harms added.
Indeed, the Whippets were 9 of 11 from the free-throw line and gave up a scant 11 points after Trewyn left the game. Even though the team responded well to the challenge, there is little doubt that the squad will need its leader if they are to accomplish the goals they set for the season.
When asked if she knew how long Trewyn was out for, Harms admitted she wasn’t sure.
“Hopefully not long. We need to get Brooke back to the court as soon as possible. Conditioning is a vital component to the sport of basketball, and we can’t afford to drop any further than we already have because of recent illnesses,” Harms explained.
While traversing a difficult early portion of the schedule, Whitewater is 5-2 and still only one game back from the conference lead. The team knows that their bad luck could have come at a worse time.
“We are fortunate to have this strike of bad luck hit us during the bulk of our non-conference contests,” Harms said. “We will be very cautious not to push it. I’m really proud of how the team stepped up, and in the long run I’m confident this mishap will help strengthen our team depth.”
The Lady Whippets were back in action on a trip to Delavan-Darien Thursday. That will be followed by a tilt at home with Wilmot Union on Saturday.
