By Tim Wester
Sports Correspondent
Last season the WIAA women’s basketball state tournament experienced six degrees of Waterford High School.
Four different state tournament teams shared the common connection of playing Waterford last season.
While that common bond wasn’t kind to the Wolverines, who finished with a 13-10 record and a WIAA regional playoff lost to Milton, it could pay dividends this season.
Head coach Dena Brechtl brings back a talented and battled-tested team that is expected to challenge for the Southern Lakes Conference championship and potentially make a deep run in the WIAA playoffs.
“Last Year our tough nonconference schedule was tough, but it helped prepare us,” Brechtl said. “We plan on improving this season and see ourselves competing with Wilmot for a conference championship.”
Before the Wolverines can focus on winning a conference championship, they must first find a way to replace Megan Jensen, last season’s leading scorer.
Brechtl is calling on a committee of players to share the scoring responsibilities, led by Madison Blair and Tiffany Stiewe.
“We aren’t worried about who is going to score this year,” Brechtl said. “We have a handful of offensively gifted players that have to put it all together that shoot the ball pretty well.”
Blaire and Stiewe are part of a deep group of guards that shoot well and attack the basket. Jenna Bouffiou, who is taking over Jensen’s point guard duties, will lead an up-tempo offensive attack.
Sharpshooters Shauna Malchine, along with bench players Hanna Duerst and Ella Hunsucker will help spread the floor in the half court.
Balancing the guard-heavy lineup will be a trio of inside players that include Sydney Lindner, Kaylee Fry, and Rylee Chart.
“Our post position girls are strong, but not tall,” Brechtl said. “We need them to rebound and create good spacing on the floor to open up some drives. They are becoming a focal point at practices and becoming comfortable with the style we are playing.”
With the offense expected to score a lot of points, the Brechtl is looking to add a strong defensive attack. The quick and undersized Wolverines will switch between zone and man-to-man defenses to match up with different style teams.
“Defense is becoming a focal point for us this season,” Brechtl said. “On days we don’t shoot well, we need to play good defense to win. The challenging thing is to make sure our guards don’t mentally take themselves out of games if they don’t shoot well. They need to take care of the other parts of the game.”
And if the Wolverines are able to play good defense to complement its high-scoring offense, Brechtl said her team could challenge Wilmot for the conference title.
“The sky is the limit for us if we can continue to improve,” Brechtl said. “Hopefully we can continue to prepare hard for February and March with a conference championship locked up as we moved forward into the playoffs.
Early success
Waterford opened its campaign with a 52-35 victory Nov. 26 at home against Hartford.
Stiewe led all scorers with 20 points, including two triples. Blair added eight points.
Waterford plays its first road game Dec. 3 at the Prairie School in Racine.
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