By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
Poor shooting doomed the Waterford Union High School girls basketball team in Southern Lakes Conference games against Badger and Burlington.
The Wolverines lost 50-35 Jan. 29 at home against Badger and lost 54-30 Jan. 26 at home against Burlington.
Waterford (4-13, 2-8 SLC) played a non-conference game Tuesday at Franklin (11-6) and plays a SLC game tonight at Westosha Central (2-15, 2-8 SLC).
Waterford coach Dena Brechtl said Badger (7-10, 5-5 SLC) opened the game with a 14-1 run that proved insurmountable for the Wolverines.
“Offensively, we made too many poor decisions and shot 22 percent, which is just too poor,” Brechtl said. “I was very pleased with the fact that the girls pushed hard to come back.”
After going down 14-1 Waterford responded with a 15-13 run and trailed 27-16 at halftime.
“Defensively, after those first six or seven minutes, we did some nice things, got some nice traps and gave our all,” Brechtl said. “We pressed well to end the game – another promising part.”
Brechtl said Badger’s height inside offered more than Waterford could handle. Badger outscored the Wolverines 23-19 in the second half.
Ella Hunsucker led the Wolverines with nine points. Hannah Tuska added seven. Sam Tisa scored 11 for Badger.
“There was more good in this game than Burlington, which is what we will need going into February,” Brechtl said.
Brechtl said Waterford played a rough game against the Demons. The Wolverines’ offense stalled and negatively affected the team’s defense. Burlington (9-8, 7-3 SLC) attempted five shots from outside 15 feet.
“We did not execute our game plan and let them score too much in the paint,” Brechtl said. “We also had a plan of making sure Jessa Burling did not get to touch the ball. However, with a lack of help-side defense, she then got too many touches inside.”
Defensive lapses aside the Wolverines trailed by only four points – 26-22 – at halftime. The Demons closed the game with a 28-8 run in the second half.
“For us, it felt like a step backwards when we have done so much to move forward,” Brechtl said. “One we need to just let go of and move on. It was one of those days were nothing seemed to be going right.”
Hunsucker and Tuska led the Wolverines with eight points each. Burling scored a game-high 22.
-
-
-
-
-