Talented sophomore leading Oak Creek
While most of the Southeast Conference waits and hopes for a hoops season, Oak Creek won bragging rights of its No. 1 rival.
The Knights, who are ranked No. 9 in the Journal Sentinel area rankings, defeated No. 7 Franklin, 37-30, in the latest installment of their border battle Friday at home. Oak Creek shut down the Sabers’ offense for much of the game and handled increased defensive pressure after they turned up the heat in an attempt speed up the game and possibly create some easy scoring opportunities.
The matchup almost always has a bearing on the Southeast Conference race, but not this year. Due to season postponements in Racine and Kenosha, cities that are home to six of the league’s eight schools, any games pitting SEC teams this year count as non-conference. In other words, Oak Creek’s 112-game conference winning streak and its run of eight straight conference titles is on hold.
When league play resumes next season (hopefully), the Knights will contend with the help of a player who is just starting to blossom.
Sophomore Paulina Hernandez, a 6foot-2 center, led the Knights on Friday with 11 points. Nine of her points came in the final 10 minutes, a stretch in which she played stronger with the ball in the post and scored three straight buckets that helped Oak Creek improve to 4-3.
“She’s going to be a phenomenal player,” Oak Creek coach Steve Hluchnik said. “She’s got the body. She’s got the work ethic, but I forget myself sometimes that she’s just a sophomore.”
Hernandez leads the Knights in scoring (9 ppg) and rebounding (6.5 rpg), but the team is balanced. Seniors Sara Kasar (8.7 ppg) and Jenna Widenski (8.1 ppg) rank 2-3 in scoring and five players average at least five points per game.
That balance was on display Friday. Widenski, a forward added seven points, Kasar, guard, finished with six points, as did senior guard Janiyah Goner.
The game was just the second of the year for Franklin. It opened the year with a loss, 59-52, on Monday to Marshall, the No. 1-ranked Division 4 team in the wissports.net coaches poll.
Here are two more takeaways from the week in high school girls basketball:
A title could be in cards for Greenfield
The Hawks have never won a conference title, but give them a few weeks.
They handed South Milwaukee its first loss Friday, 60-49, at home after blowing a lead to the Rockets on Tuesday and losing, 56-53. The win left Greenfield a half game behind South Milwaukee in the Woodland East.
One encouraging aspect to the game Friday was Greenfield’s resolve. After taking a 10-point lead in the game’s first 10 minutes, South Milwaukee made a handful of runs at the Hawks only to be rebuffed before it could seize the lead.
It was a major step for a team that have nine sophomores and one junior making up the entire roster.
“This is the first time since I’ve had them in a year-plus that they regrouped,” Greenfield coach Jack Hervert said. “They came out. They made plays. They were steady.”
The Hawks took care of the basics and fundamentals. Hervert thought a failure in some aspect of either category played a role in some of the key turnovers that sparked South Milwaukee’s comeback. Hervert also thought the short time between games played into his team’s favor.
“I think it was a much easier opportunity for them to learn because it was so fresh,” he said.
Allison Hampel, 5-10 forward, led all scorers with 21 points. Sophia Gruber, a 6-1 center, added a career-high 15 points.
Thanks to its one-point loss to Kettle Moraine Lutheran on Tuesday, Martin Luther has lost two of its last four games, and with dates schedule against 9-1 South Milwaukee on Dec. 30 and 8-0 Lake Mills on Jan. 5 there might be more bumps in the road. Those experiences could prove key to Martin Luther winning its first Metro Classic title in three years. The ambitious scheduling leads directly into a matchup Jan. 9 with Racine Lutheran, a showdown with the only Metro Classic team that has shown the potential to beat Martin Luther.