By Dana Ehrmann
Sports Correspondent
New girls Catholic Central basketball head coach Joe Spierenburg has a clear picture of the overall purpose of his team.
“I took the job at Catholic Central because I saw it as the perfect opportunity to get involved with and help the wonderful school community,” he said.
“It is also a great opportunity to foster Catholic principles in the players I coach and in turn we can make a positive impact on our greater community.”
And within the realm of the game, Coach Spierenburg’s goal is to improve upon last year’s Metro Classic Conference record of 3-13.
The road ahead may be tough, as Spierenburg is the third head coach in three years.
“We will be starting from scratch,” he said.
But he brings a lot of experience to the team. The Pennsylvania native played college ball at Gettysburg College, and also served as assistant men’s coach at Marymount University in Virginia.
For the past two years, he coached the boys freshmen team and was an assistant coach for the boys varsity team at Catholic Central.
Now as the girls head coach, he has Allison Hocking and Bob O’Neill as assistants.
Additionally, guards Elizabeth Klein, Emma Klein and Emily Swanson as well as forward Mikelle Miles return to the team.
The early season has been a mixed bag so far.
On Friday, Nov. 17 against the University School of Milwaukee, “we played tough defensively,” while the “offense came around late in the game. “
The Lady Toppers were victorious, besting University School, 38-20.
However, they lost the first game of the season to Brookfield Academy back on Tuesday, Nov. 14. The final score was 45-25.
“You could tell it was early in the season,” said Coach Spierenburg.
Catholic Central resumes play after the Thanksgiving holiday on Tuesday, Nov. 28 at home against The Prairie School.
Schedule
(HOME GAMES ALL CAPS)
November – 28: PRAIRIE SCHOOL. December – 1: SHORELAND LUTHERAN. 5: at Martin Luther. 9: at Kenosha St. Joe’s. 12: DOMINICAN. 14: LAKE COUNTRY LUTHERAN. 18: THOMAS MORE. 28-29: Tournament at Williams Bay. January – 6: RACINE ST. CAT’S. 9: at Kenosha Christian Life. 13: at Racine Lutheran. 16: at Prairie School. 20: at Shoreland Lutheran. 23: ST. JOE’S. 26: at Dominican. February – 3: at Thomas More. 6: at St. Cat’s. 9: MARTIN LUTHER. 13: RACINE LUTHERAN.