Wauwatosa East girls end season with 53-29 defeat vs. Oak Creek
Red Raiders couldn't sink their shots
In the previous 15 times the Wauwatosa East girls basketball teams trailed after one quarter, the Red Raiders managed to rally and win just once.
During a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal at Oak Creek on Tuesday, Tosa East stuck with that trend.
The Red Raiders made just two of 12 shots in the first quarter and trailed, 14-4, after one period. They never recovered, ending their season with a 53-29 loss to the host Knights.
"We've been very inconsistent over the year," said Red Raiders coach Rob Hamill, whose team finished the season on a six-game losing streak that left them with a final 4-19 record.
"We had a couple games like (Tuesday) where we did get our hands on the ball, we did get a couple looks, we did try to run the offense to create what we wanted to. We just didn't get the easy shots in. It's been something we have focused on all year long, but it has been a tendency. It hurt us (Tuesday). It got us into a hole that was pretty tough to get out of."
Missing basics hurts
That hole got deeper in a hurry. The Red Raiders went nine and a half minutes without a field goal from the first to second quarters and were outscored, 19-3, over the last 11½ minutes of the half as Oak Creek took a commanding 25-7 lead into halftime.
Oak Creek forward Ashley Luke outscored the Red Raiders, 8-7, in the first half and finished with a game-high 16 points.
"We haven't been physically strong enough to counteract that," Hamill said of opposing teams' post play. "You can if you give them one shot and get leverage on the box out. We don't do some of those basic things the way we teach them. That's hurt us at times, too."
Oak Creek guard Cydney Weisflog tallied 12, 10 of which came in the third quarter. Senior guard Angela Rodriguez, in her second game back since missing time with an ankle injury, finished with just three points but added six assists, four steals and two rebounds.
Senior Talisha Simpson had 10 points for the Red Raiders, who shot just 30 percent (13 of 44) from the field. Junior Cara Walls added eight points.
Hamill said the Knights compared favorably to Greater Metro Conference co-champion Brookfield Central, a team Oak Creek beat earlier this season.
"Brookfield Central, I thought had more aggression at times. Oak Creek, as good as they are - maybe it was because of us - they were able to lay back a little bit, and that worked against them a few times. But Rodriguez is a good player. She's a difference-maker for them."
Greater Metro Conference
The Red Raiders dropped a 68-26 decision at Brookfield Central on March 4 in the regular season finale.
"There's a reason they have won three straight conference championships," Hamill said. "They are an excellent team. …
"As for us, it was our worst game of the year."
The Lady Lancers jumped out to a 14-2 lead in the first quarter and increased that to 31-8 at intermission. Central came out and outscored the Red Raiders, 26-5, in the third period to take a 57-13 lead.
East's Alexa Kramer and Simpson led the way with eight and six points, respectively. Yolanda Coleman and Walls had four points each, while Emily Ferger and Cassie Osinski each added a basket.
The Red Raiders finished in the bottom three of the GMC with a 2-12 record, one game ahead of last-place West Allis Hale (1-13) and one behind Menomonee Falls (3-11).
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