By Jennifer Eisenbart
Sports editor
Against a talented team on the road in the playoffs, most coaches will be satisfied with having a chance to win the game.
That said, there was a lot of disappointment when the Waterford Union High School girls basketball team fell 48-46 in a WIAA Division 2 regional semifinal at Cudahy Friday night.
The loss ended Waterford’s season with a 13-10 overall record.
Waterford head coach Dena Bretchl said she got everything out of her players she could have expected in the contest – except the victory.
“It was a bummer the way it ended,” she said. “We called this timeout with 2.9 seconds left. We drew up this play.
“We’ve drawn up plays before and haven’t quite executed,” she added. “It was beautiful. They did everything right.
“I felt so bad for the kids.”
Brechtl drew up a play to get the ball to senior standout Steffi Rank, the team’s best scorer. Alyssa Helwig, who played limited minutes because of an ankle sprain, was inserted into the game to make the long pass to Rank while two other players served as decoys and Jaycie Chart provided the screen.
Rank got the ball and put up a decent shot, Brechtl said. It just didn’t fall.
“They did everything right the entire game,” the coach said. “I went right out there and gave Steffi a big hug and said, ‘That’s how the game rolls.’
“And she said, ‘I know.’”
In spite of it all, Brechtl left the court satisfied.
“I felt like we won,” she said. “If I had drawn up that play at the beginning of the year, I don’t know if we would’ve taken every step.”
Rank finished with a game-high 21 points, and 15 rebounds. Chart added nine rebounds, while Megan Jensen had six points, four assists and two steals.
Freshman Madison Blair pitched in six points and four assists.
The improvements the Wolverines made throughout the season were visible to Brechtl – and to anyone following the team. With Jensen struggling with an injury early in the year, Waterford lost six of its first nine games.
The Wolverines won seven straight games near the end of the season before falling to Elkhorn in the regular season finale, and then to Cudahy.
“Without a point guard, we struggled a little bit at the beginning,” said Brechtl, who added that when Jensen got healthy, the team got better.
Rank also battled injuries, but battled through. And the contributions of players like Kamer – a defensive standout who could also score – made the season special.
“In my first year, not knowing exactly what we were going to get … it was absolutely amazing to go on that run there,” Brechtl said. “I couldn’t be happier with the effort that was put in and the improvements that I saw.”
Waterford will lose three senior players – Rank, Kamer and Abbey Schneider – as well as team manager Lauren Schwabe.
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