Homestead girls can't overcome slow start; Brown Deer downs Shorewood
Early deficit seals Highlanders' fate
In sports, a good start always helps, and so does a good finish.
The Germantown girls basketball team had both, as a 12-0 start and a methodical finish, allowed them to beat Homestead, 63-56, in a WIAA regional semifinal Tuesday night.
Warhawks coach Matt Stuve was happy with the win, but not with the sometimes slipshod mid-game effort that allowed the Highlanders (6-17) to stay in the game throughout the night.
"It's a good win, the first tournament win for this senior group," Stuve said, "but we have to find a way to work a whole lot harder on defense. It was like we had our feet in cement at times in the second and third quarters."
The victory advanced the Warhawks (18-5) to a 1 p.m. regional Saturday final at Waukesha South (16-7).
Homestead ended its season with back-to-back losses to the Warhawks, including the regular season closer last Friday.
"That was the best start anyone has had against us all season," said Homestead coach Matt Heuser. "It's really hard to come back when you dig a hole that deep."
The hole was dug in just a swift 3:12 of the first quarter. Kate Benson (game-high 21 points) had nine points of the effort including a 3-pointer while Taylor Johnston (9) had a trifecta of her own.
Homestead fought back to make it 14-8 at the quarter, but then the Warhawks hit the Highlanders with a 13-3 run to start the second and make it 27-11.
Three late period treys from Megan Geschke (team-high 18) helped Homestead close the gap to 33-25 at the half.
"We just fought and we fought," Heuser said.
The Highlanders outscored the Warhawks 9-2 in the final two minutes of the third period to make it 47-42, the high-point of the night for them.
But the elation was short-lived, as Germantown, behind 6-2 post Eliza Wortman (20), scored the first six points of the fourth quarter to take control for good. Homestead never got within seven again.
The Warhawks helped themselves by hitting 14 of 14 free throws.
Natalie Sperling aided Geschke with 12 while Siena Mitman had 10 for Homestead.
Stuve is looking forward to a better effort against South.
"This was a big stepping stone," he said, "and we'll take 63 points in any game we play. We'll work on a few things this week and see how it goes."
Brown Deer 50, Shorewood 27: In other action Tuesday, the Falcons (9-14) used a 19-8 first quarter to take control of the WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal against the winless Greyhounds (0-22). It was 26-10 at the half and the Falcons outscored Shorewood in every quarter.
Ariel Feiertag and Chelsea Stingley had 13 points apiece for Brown Deer, while Jenny Vrobel led the Greyhounds with eight and Audrey Peterson had six.
The Falcons will advance to a 7 p.m. Thursday regional semifinal at Grafton.
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