West girls hold on to second place

New Berlin - New Berlin West bounced back well from a crosstown loss to Eisenhower last week, improving their record to 7-2 overall, good enough for second place (7-1) in the Woodland-West behind first-place Pius XI last week.

West defeated Whitnall, 53-44, on Dec. 18 to start the week and then came back and blew out Greendale, 58-26, on Friday in two home games.

They now play a nonconference game at Waukesha North (4-5) on Friday before getting back into conference play on Jan. 4 at Pewaukee.

Friday night neither the Panthers offense nor defense had a chance against the aggressive Vikings, who didn't allow more than eight points in any quarter. They led 18-5 after the first period and 36-11 at intermission. They then held off the Panthers with a 22-15 second-half showing.

While Emily Perszyk led Greendale with 10 points, Beth Ver Haagh topped all scorers with 14 points while Nicole Holstein had two 3-pointers, finishing with 10 points, the same total as Anne Radtke. Claire Radtke added nine points, but she struggled from the free throw line, going 1-for-6.

Against Whitnall, Ver Haagh was outstanding with 24 points, including 5-for-5 from the free throw line and three 3-pointers.

"Beth had another nice game and shot the ball with confidence," West coach Corey Scheel said. "She is really looking to be a threat on the offensive end for us and has done exactly what I have asked of her. If not for some foul trouble in the third quarter, which she sat out most of, she could have had more.

The Vikings led 13-10 after the first quarter and 32-23 at halftime when the Sabers came back.

"It is always a tough game when we play Whitnall," Scheel said. "We had a nine-point halftime cushion, but they made some adjustments in the third quarter with a 2-2-1 three-quarter court trap and went to a 2-3 zone.

"We made some early mistakes in the third to let them back in the game and get within two points, but we did not waver and ended the game on an 11-4 run. When we can limit our mistakes and not give teams easy points in transition, we are a very good team."

West led 46-40 after three periods and then won a low-scoring final quarter (7-4).

"I thought we did a nice job defensively in the half court taking them out of their offense as well as up top with ball pressure on their guards," Scheel said.

"Senior post Rachel Gasper also had a solid game for us with 11 points. She had a height advantage in the post and took advantage on the offensive end as well as rebounding the ball."