Posted: March 17, 2010 |(0) Comments

Homestea boys basketball coach Ray Curry is not going to get caught up in a game of "what if?" concerning this recently concluded 11-12 campaign.

Even with frustrating losses down the stretch to the likes of Cedarburg, Menomonee Falls and Whitefish Bay on the résumé.

Because the rise in the level of frustration is concurrent with the rise in the level of competitiveness the Highlanders had between last season's six-win campaign and this year's effort, which could have easily been three or four games more.

"Last year we had to struggle to be competitive in games," he said, "while this year, we were competitive in a great many games. We made ourselves one of the teams to beat in the North Shore even though we had been picked to be seventh in pre-season polls.

"We re-established ourselves and that is something we can be proud of."

The Highlanders ended their season with the tough loss to Cedarburg in the regional semifinal.

Curry said the turnabout in competitiveness was established by the seniors early on.

"They got after it immediately after the football season," he said. "They said they were ready to move forward. I asked them 'How is it going to be different from last year?' and they told me 'We're going to be different.'

"And they were. They really helped us along the way."

Seniors include Smith, Laihinen, Moore, Bryan Bronaugh, Andrew Holtorf and Nick Pitner.

Whitefish Bay girls basketball

For all that had gone wrong offensively for the Blue Dukes in their WIAA Division 2 regional final with Grafton on Saturday in Port Washington, they still stood a chance late.

Despite going scoreless in the second quarter and a three-for-15 effort shooting in the first half, Bay still trailed by just 28-24 with 1:14 remaining and was at the foul line in the bonus situation.

But the opportunity slipped when the front end was missed and the defending state D2 champion Blackhawks went on to hit four free throws in the final minute to clinch the game and end the Blue Dukes' season, 32-24.

Coach Greg Capper credited his senior group of Alexa Herasimchuk, Maggie Rice, Kylie Davidson, Megan Palmer, Maggie Tietjen, and Lauren Agnew for taking the bull by the horns and not letting the team collapse after falling behind 19-7 at the break.

Bay was led by Jessie Switzer, who had 15 points as no one else had more than four points. The loss ended the Blue Dukes season at 13-11, while Grafton went on to sectional play this weekend.

 

- Steven L. Tietz