West moves to front of league

Posted: Jan. 7, 2013

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Scott Ash

Arrowhead junior Kelly Smith (20) gets inside for a shot during the game at Waukesha West on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013.

Scott Ash

Arrowhead junior Kelly Smith (20) gets inside for a shot during the game at Waukesha West on Friday, Jan. 4, 2013.

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Something had to give last Friday night in the girls Classic 8 Conference basketball showdown at Waukesha West. Both the host Wolverines and Arrowhead came into the game with perfect 5-0 league records. Sole possession of first place was stake.

After an up and down 32 minutes by both teams, it was West that emerged unscathed, fighting off a big third-quarter rally by the Warhawks for a 58-50 victory.

The win put the Wolverines in sole possession of first place at 6-0 and dropped Arrowhead into a second-place tie with Mukwonago, as both sport 5-1 marks. West also improved to 9-1 on the season, its best record after 10 games in school history. AHS fell to 7-4.

The Warhawks, who played from behind for all but 23 seconds of the game, went on a furious 16-0 run in the final four minutes of the third quarter to take their sole lead of the night. Junior Megan Douglas hit a basket and a free throw to put her team on top at 38-36 with 52 seconds left in the period.

But West answered that Arrowhead rally with one of its own, scoring five points in the final 29 seconds to take a 41-38 lead going into the final quarter. West then opened the fourth period by scoring four more unanswered points in the first 52 second to take a 45-38 lead.

From there, the Warhawks kept battling back but could get no closer than one point (49-48) with 3:31 to play. Arrowhead missed its final five shots from the floor and did not score in the last 2:06 of the game. In that same span, West scored the final six points of the night.

"We had a great run in the third quarter that got us back into the game," said first-year Arrowhead coach Rick Witte. "We played well in spurts. But I would like to see us running away from people and not running to catch up. It's hard to play from behind the entire game like we had to do tonight."

Big Warhawks rally

Considering the high stakes of Friday's game, the night didn't start out for the Warhawks the way they had hoped. In the first 4:31 of the game, they fell behind by a 13-2 score. They trailed 15-6 at the end of the opening quarter and by a 28-19 margin at halftime.

In the opening half, Arrowhead was guilty of 10 turnovers and shot just 28 percent (7 of 25) from the floor.

"We just couldn't get comfortable in the first half," Witte said. "West hit some shots early and we had too many turnovers. We just didn't play very well in the first two quarters.

The West lead grew to 36-22 with 4:22 remaining in the third quarter before the Warhawks put together their most impressive run of basketball this season.

Douglas, who played her best game of the season, got Arrowhead rolling by making a basket on a strong drive to the basket and adding a free throw. That momentum carried over into the next three minutes as the Warhawks went on a brilliant 16-0 run to turn that 14-point deficit into a 38-36 lead.

Sophomore guard Jenna Goulet, who had missed the previous eight games with an injury for AHS, was outstanding in that big surge. Goulet scored a total of 11 points in a span of 3:20, including 10 straight. Douglas and Goulet scored all 16 points in the run.

But the Wolverines delivered a dagger when Michelle Farrow nailed a long 3-pointer with just two-tenths of a second showing on the clock for West in the third quarter, giving her team a 41-38 lead.

After West expanded its edge, Douglas hit a short jumper with 2:09 remaining to pull her team within 49-48, but Arrowhead never scored again.

Douglas and Lauren Peterson finished the night with 12 points each for the Warhawks. Goulet scored all 11 of her points in the third period.

"It was nice to have Jenna back on the court for us," Witte said. "She missed the last eight games with an injury, and that hurt us. She gave us a big lift tonight. She plays a key role for us."

Warhawks stun King

Arrowhead bounced back and scored one of its best wins of the season on Saturday, defeating Milwaukee King, 74-54. The 74 points was the Warhawks' highest point total of the season.

King had defeated the Warhawks the week before at the Christine Rathke tournament in Franklin, 70-54. Saturday's win improved to the AHS record to 8-4 on the season.

A wild first quarter set the tone on Saturday as AHS jumped out to a 23-20 lead. By halftime, the Warhawks improved that lead to 33-26. In the second half, they outscored the Generals, 41-28.

Junior Kelly Smith scored a career-high 33 points. Smith made 10 baskets and converted 11 of 17 free throws.

Lauren Peterson added 14 points for the Warhawks and Ally May had 12. Six other girls scored the winners.

Arrowhead took advantage of numerous fouls by King to convert 36 of 49 free throws for the night.

"I was pleased with how the girls bounced back after losing at West the night before," said Arrowhead coach Rick Witte. "We put Friday night behind us and went out and played one of our best games of the season. It was nice to see Kelly Smith come back and play a big game. She struggled on Friday but played some great basketball against King."

Box Score

Waukesha West 58, Arrowhead 50