Pewaukee prelude: win over Rockets sets up big clash
They can finally say "Eisenhower" out loud, and they can do so with a smile.
The Pewaukee girls basketball team's biggest clash of the year looms Saturday, but another major test awaited four days earlier with a Tuesday game on the road against a dangerous South Milwaukee team. The Pirates forced 26 turnovers and knocked off the Rockets, 50-35, moving to 13-2 on the year.
Unbeaten New Berlin Eisenhower (14-0) comes to Pewaukee on Saturday. If anyone was anticipating a letdown against South Milwaukee (9-4), the Pirates put that notion to bed with a 12-0 run in the first half that gave them the lead for good.
"I was ecstatic with our defense," coach Todd Hansen said. "It wasn't a one- or two-person effort; it was everyone who played in the game. Thirty-three points to that team; everything we talked about in practice, everything we broke down on offense, we did it perfectly the whole game."
Complicating matters was the absence of Emily Wirth, who missed the game with a foot injury. In her stead, junior Megan Murray started and scored 6 points while contributing to the defensive effort.
"Going in for a two-time All Conference kid, and she looked like she should be out there as much as anybody else," Hansen said of Murray, saying it was by far her best varsity game. "I told her before the game we needed her to play strong tonight, and she did. I don't know if it was our best game of the year, but if it wasn't, it was right there."
Jordyn Swan scored 22 points, including eight straight to close the first quarter and put the Pirates up, 15-11, after South Milwaukee had taken an 11-5 lead. The 12-point run, bookended by baskets from Brittany Groer and Natalie Wood, was part of a 26-8 run that closed the first half and gave the Pirates a 31-19 lead at the break.
Pewaukee held the Rockets to 4 points in the fourth quarter, holding the ball for long possessions to milk the clock.
"Occasionally people come in and think we're just going to win automatically," said Swan. "We're good, but any team can beat us. If we don't play our 'A' game, any team can beat us. We knew this week was a big week for us. We knew we had to come in and play hard or we were going to get beat."
Many of the Rockets' turnovers came in halfcourt sets, with Pewaukee recording steal after steal without a press or trapping approach.
"We knew they had a lot of height on us, so we had to play good defense and good shell, and today we actually played it when we needed to," Swan said.
Next comes Eisenhower, one of the top teams in Division 2 and led by University of Wisconsin recruit Nicole Bauman. The Lions play in the other division of the Woodland Conference, but Pewaukee enters just one game ahead of Cudahy for top honors in the Woodland Blue and also could see Ike again in the WIAA postseason.
"We have not mentioned Eisenhower once," Hansen said "I finally mentioned Eisenhower in the locker room after the game. When we were 2-2, we weren't worrying about anything else. They're really good; we're good, and that's what you coach and play for, games like that."
Hansen said Wirth would have played against South Milwaukee if it were a state tournament game, and he expects her to be available for the 7 p.m. clash Saturday at Pewaukee.
Box score
Pewaukee 50, South Milwaukee 35
| Pewaukee | FG | FT | Points |
| Jasinski | 1 | 0-2 | 2 |
| Swan | 6 | 7-10 | 22 |
| Groer | 4 | 0-0 | 10 |
| N. Wood | 1 | 2-2 | 4 |
| Murray | 3 | 0-0 | 6 |
| K. Wood | 1 | 0-0 | 3 |
| Jansen | 0 | 1-3 | 1 |
| Satterfield | 1 | 0-0 | 2 |
| Wisniewski | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Caccese | 0 | 0-0 | 0 |
| Totals | 17 | 10-17 | 50 |
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