By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
The relentless full-court press.
The five-player-at-a-time, hockey-line player substitutions.
It’s all part of the unnerving experience that the Lake Geneva Badger girls basketball gives opponents every game.
Yet through it all, Union Grove seemed unfazed by the unconventional style and cruised to an impressive 81-51 victory at Badger Friday night in Southern Lakes Conference action.
Senior forward Janelle Shiffler led the way with 22 points, while junior Brooklyn Bull had 20, and Peyton Killberg chipped in 10 to help the Broncos (13-3, 7-2) remain a game behind first place Wilmot in the Southern Lakes Conference race.
“Against that scheme, I thought for the most part kept our composure early in the first and second halves of this game,” Union Grove coach Rob Domagalski said.
The Broncos indeed kept their composure throughout, and never trailed in the game. The Badgers, however, managed to stay within a couple points of the lead for the first five minutes of the game.
But the Broncos’ balanced offensive attack eventually took control. Killberg got things rolling with a three-pointer from the elbow that banked in the basket.
Killberg, who cringed after the making the shot, sank two more three-pointers in the half, while seven other Broncos scored at least two points to pick up the slack after Shiffler sat down in foul trouble.
“I was trying to look for Janelle at times, but she was on the bench, which didn’t help,” Bull said. “But we did well in the stretch where she was out.”
Despite Bull’s admitted follies, the Broncos managed to outscore the Badgers 16-9 with Shiffler on the bench, en route to a 47-30 halftime lead.
Things only got better for the Grove in the second half.
Bull got the team rolling with a nifty finger roll in the lane, followed by a three-pointer to blow the game open 60-32.
The Broncos finally cooled off long enough to allow Badger to put together a 13-2 run and cut the deficit to 67-49 with seven minutes to play.
“When we’re passing the ball like we did tonight, playing against this type of team is easy because we have a lot of talented players who know how to score the basketball,” Shiffler said. “But when we rely on just one player to score, that’s when we get in trouble against a team like this.”
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