Racine Lutheran makes improbable turnaround
Teams come back and avenge losses all the time, but usually there is some sign in the first game that the second matchup is could go differently.
That wasn't the case with Racine Lutheran. It caught everyone off guard Monday with its 50-43 double-overtime victory over Martin Luther.
“I don't know anybody who got beat with a 40-point running clock and then you come back nine days later and beat that team in overtime,” Lutheran coach Steve Shaffer said. “To me was a remarkable feat by our team.”
On Jan. 9 Lutheran lost, 71-35, to Martin Luther in a game played with a running clock for the final 9 minutes. Confused by the Spartans' 1-3-1 zone and unable to contain their hot shooting, Lutheran suffered its worst loss in years.
In the rematch, Shaffer turned the tables a bit. Almost always a man-toman team, the Crusaders played a boxand-one on Martin Luther sharpshooter Vanessa Solano. The senior guard burned Lutheran for 8-for-12 threepoint shooting in the first meeting and equaled a career high with 26 points.
“I was going to be willing to take a chance and dare those other kids to shoot the three,” Shaffer said.
The Spartans went from shooting 42.4% (14 for 33) from three-point range to Monday going 5 for 27 (18.5%) and shooting 16 for 65 (24.6%) in the second game. Solano was 2 for 5 with eight points.
That defense along with late baskets from sophomore Sarah Strande that forced the two overtimes put the Crusaders in position to pull away in the second OT.
They entered Saturday's game at St. Thomas More a half game out of first place and in position to get a piece of a third straight Metro Classic title.
The team has played all its games on the road and had all its practices outside the city of Racine due to a COVID-19-related health order.
Here are four other takeaways from the week.
Pandemic challenges
A week ago, Cedarburg was riding the wave of a five-game North Shore Conference winning streak and a share of the league lead. Today the Bulldogs are two games behind co-leaders West Bend West and Slinger after losses to West Tuesday and Grafton Friday.
Tough slate
Oak Creek traditionally puts together a strong schedule, but this year's is probably its toughest. With the Racine schools in the Southeast Conference unable to play games and the Kenosha public schools from the conference just getting started, the Knights have needed to seek out more games than usual.
But when it came to adding games, they were still selective.
Including DSHA, which faced Oak Creek on Saturday, all but one of the Knights' opponents have a record above .500. The collective record of their opponents is 160-83 (.658).
Watch out for Dominican
While Martin Luther and Racine Lutheran are well ahead of the pack in the Metro Classic, Dominican is proving to be a team to watch for the future.
The Knights, are entrenched in third place in the Metro Classic with an 8-4 record (8-6 overall), The team has just one senior, but all its top players are expected to return next season, including freshman guard Keona McGee (12.7 ppg), sophomore forward Alicia Burgos Schroeder (12.3 ppg) and junior guard Chante Gayden (7.9 ppg). With a 51-34 win over Racine St. Catherine's on Thursday, the Knights have won four of their last five games.
Big win for the Badgers
Badger entered the week undefeated in the Southern Lakes, but after an 11point loss to Union Grove on Monday trailed the Broncos by a game. Badger bounced back Friday, scoring a 60-58 overtime win on the road that puts the teams on track to tie for the league title for the second straight year.
Entering play Saturday, Union Grove had remaining league games with Elkhorn (3-7 Southern Lakes) and Westosha Central (6-6); Badger had Burlington (1-11), Delavan-Darien (1-8) and Wilmot (6-5).