Lady Wolverines dominate glass, looking to turn season around
By Chris Bennett
Sports Correspondent
The Waterford Union High School girls basketball opened 2018 with a win, and snapped a seven-game losing streak.
The Wolverines won 67-44 Jan 2 at home in a non-conference game against Kenosha Indian Trail. Waterford closed 2017 Dec. 27 with a 64-60 home non-conference loss to Kettle Moraine.
The Wolverines played a Southern Lakes Conference game Thursday at home against Union Grove (10-1, 4-0 SLC), and play a SLC contest Jan. 9 at home against Delavan-Darien (1-7, 0-4 SLC).
Coach Dena Brechtl said the Wolverines (2-9, 0-4 SLC) finished stronger at the rim in the second half against Indian Trail (2-8).
“Katie Rohner was unstoppable, and Trail had no answer for her,” Brechtl said. “We also some very aggressive offensive rebounding from many girls.
“Defensively we kept the dribble penetration in front of us after getting beat too many times. All of those adjustments allowed us to pull away.”
Waterford led 30-25 at halftime, and outscored the Eagles 37-19 in the second half.
“Overall, I was very happy with the performance, and was excited about the win,” Brechtl said. “The girls have been keeping their heads high, and know that nearly all of our losses were close – down to the last four or five minutes. This win was one to enjoy.”
Waterford finished with 60 rebounds, including 29 on the offensive glass. Brechtl praised the play of freshman guard Torrie Loppnow, Emma Karpinski and Annie Benavides.
Rohner scored a game-high 30 points and finished with eight rebounds. Kathleen Fitzgerald added 12 points and grabbed nine rebounds. Benavides pulled down 12 rebounds.
Kendall Wilhelmson led Indian Trail with 18 points.
Against Kettle Moraine (4-5), the Wolverines trailed by as many as 11 points in the second half of an uneven game.
“We did so many things right but still had too many moments – moments where we lost focus or didn’t stay mentally tough. There were moments that we shined and played like team we know we can be. However, there were also too many times that we played opposite of this.”
Kettle Moraine led 29-21 at halftime, but Waterford outscored the Lasers 39-35 in the second half.
Fitzgerald scored a game-high 20 points for Waterford. Maddy Anderson added 17 and Rohner scored 14 points. Benavides finished with 10 rebounds.
Hailey Grocholski led Kettle Moraine 17 points.
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