Team remains undefeated after knocking off two tough opponents
By Adam Knoll
Sports Correspondent
The still undefeated Whitewater High School girls basketball team put together yet another strong showing last week, knocking off two tough opponents and continuing to look like a very strong all around team.
Against non-conference foe Stoughton, the Whippets were impressive knocking off what head coach Judy Harms described as “an excellent team.”
New Stoughton head coach Brad Pickett was coaching at Brodhead last season when the Whippets were bounced from the postseason. Although the uniforms were not the same, the sting remained fresh as the Whippets took vengeance convincingly, 66-53.
“(Pickett)’s Brodhead team knocked us out of tournament action last season, en route to a state appearance. It was a very good quality win for us,” Harms said.
Once again it was the Schumacher sisters, Rebekah and Sarah, who did the most damage for Whitewater, scoring 14 and 21 points respectively. Both sisters dominated the game for a half, keeping the pressure up on a stout Stoughton offense.
A few other Whippets also had a notable showing including Kailey Reynolds with 11 points and Melanie Martinez who added nine.
“Having almost four players in double figures makes a strong mark. We took advantage of our quickness, limited turnovers, and played tough all-around,” Harms said.
Unlike most of their other games this season, Whitewater was not in control by the half, up by a mere four points. It was a 24-13 third quarter showing for Whitewater that broke the game open – a spread that was needed considering the two teams were even during the rest of the game.
In contrast to most games, only six Whippets scored points on the night, yet the team was 15-23 from the line. Neither team shot the three-point ball very well, hitting on only seven combined throughout the contest.
Blowout of Westosha
In the next game for Whitewater, against Westosha Central, the story was quite different with 11 WHS players scoring, three who hit double figures.
Sarah Schumacher paced the team with 16 points, Kailey Reynolds had 12 while Myriama Smith-Traoere added 13 en route to a 76-36 point blowout.
The Whippets did not hit a single three-point shot in the game.
“It was great to get all the girls some playing time tonight, and we just need to maintain focus one game at a time,” Harms said afterwards.
Oddly enough, nine Westosha players also scored, though after Madison Stanczak’s 11 points, no one else on the team recorded more than six.
The game was 38-12 at the half, and by then coach Harms opened up the bench. Only the defense seemed to suffer, if it can be called that, as the Whippets won the second half over Westosha Central by a 38-24 point spread.
Whitewater is set to hit the road Thursday when they take on conference foe Brodhead in another opportunity to show their strength, this time against at least some of the players who had a hand in knocking the Whippets out of contention last season.
