By Troy Sparks
SLN CORRESPONDENT
Whitewater girls basketball coach Judy Harms said almost two weeks ago that the key to beating Shoreland Lutheran was to limit the scoring opportunities of junior Chelby Koker and sophomore Lauren Heathcock.
Her words proved to be correct.
Koker, who scored a game-high 31 points, which is right around her average, and Heathcock (22 points) did most of the damage for the Pacers in a game that ended the Whippets season.
“We knew that she was going to (get her shots),” Harms said of Koker. “There were times where kids got tired and they just stopped stepping up (on defense) to help Allison (Heckert) or to help Kacie (Carollo). Allison did a good job of trying to find her everywhere she went. And you knew that she was going to get buckets here and there. But, we got screened out and we let her get all the way to the basket. That’s what really killed us.”
Whitewater held an early 15-10 lead midway through the first half but Koker scored five straight points for Shoreland Lutheran to tie the game at 15-15. Freshman forward Natalie Brug’s basket gave the Pacers their first lead of the game at 17-15.
Whitewater sophomore guard Abby Grosinske scored to tie the game again at 17-all.
For more on the Whippets girls basketball team, pick up the March 1 edition of the Whitewater Register.
