WIAA girls basketball: Waterford 67, Elkhorn 35
By Mike Ramczyk
And Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The percentages say it’s not easy to beat a team three times in the same season.
The numbers didn’t take the Waterford-Elkhorn girls basketball matchup into account.
After beating the Elks by 30 and 31 points already in February, the Lady Wolverines made it a clean sweep with a 67-35 dismantling of Elkhorn Tuesday night in a WIAA Division 2 regional playoff opener at Waterford High School.
Sixth-seeded Waterford improved to 12-11 and travels to No. 3 McFarland (17-5) Friday night.
Waterford out-rebounded Elkhorn, 42-34, and played unselfishly with 16 assists, led by Maddy Anderson’s four.
Defensively, the Wolverines forced 24 turnovers and built a 34-20 halftime lead before pouring it on in the second half.
Anderson and Katie Rohner paced the offense with 13 points each.
Waterford won the hustle game as well, with 12 offensive rebounds to Elkhorn’s five and a 13-3 advantage in second-chance points.
Hannah Engel controlled the paint with eight rebounds, and Annie Benavides and Kathleen Fitzgerald each pulled down six boards.
Though they only shot 37 percent from the field, the Wolverines bucketed seven triples, led by Anderson’s three and two from Myranda Schuttenhelm.
Union Grove 53, Waterford 34
The Wolverines trailed by 17 points at halftime and lost 53-34 Feb. 16 in a Southern Lakes Conference girls high school basketball game at Union Grove.
Waterford led from wire to wire and beat Horlick 50-46 Feb. 14 in a non-conference at Horlick High School in Racine.
Coach Dena Brechtl said the Wolverines missed too many free throws near the end against Horlick, but held on for the victory.
“Our offense was looking much better, and we made some very nice plays both inside and out,” Brechtl said. “We moved the ball better, and it was fun to watch them.”
The Wolverines led the Rebels 24-16 at halftime, and got outscored 30-26 in the second half by a resilient Horlick squad.
“Defensively we played ok,” Brechtl said. “Once again, we put the other team on the line way too much but, overall, were able to make them take some tough shots that they ended up not hitting.”
Brechtl said Waterford kept Horlick out of the paint early and rebounded well, and said she was proud of her girls for getting the win.
Katie Rohner led Waterford with 14 points. Kayla DeRosia led Horlick (13-9) with 13 points.
A rough first half that consisted of poor shooting, careless turnovers and a lack of awareness on defense became costly for the Wolverines.
“In the second half, they were challenged to be better defenders and have some offensive confidence,” Brechtl said. “We needed to attack the gaps much more and start making the easy pass. Once we did that we were much, much better.”
Waterford trailed the Broncos 31-14 at halftime, but was outscored by just two points – 22-20 – in the second half.
The Wolverines occasionally struggled against Union Grove’s defense.
“When Union Grove came out of their 1-3-1, we were able to attack much more and get some inside touches,” Brechtl said. “However, against the 1-3-1 we struggled to reverse the ball and had too many careless mistakes.”
Kayla Brendenburg led Waterford with eight points. Brooklyn Bull led the Broncos (19-3, 12-2 SLC) with a game-high 15.
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