Pius XI’s Moore puts on confident display
Mya Moore’s confidence showed. The aggressive play of Pius XI’s 6foot-1 senior center during the early minutes of the team’s game Friday night with Pewaukee set the tone for a 59-53 victory that left the Popes in a firstplace tie with the Pirates at the top of the Woodland West standings.
There were those divisional race implications. For Pius players, it could be said the win was good for the psyche, too. Pewaukee had won five of the last six meetings over the past two-plus seasons, but the win Friday gave the Popes some fresh success to draw from should these teams meet again in the playoffs.
Pewaukee needed a last-second basket to beat Pius last month. Moore had nine points on 4-for-10 shooting and grabbed 10 rebounds that night. This time she finished with 15 points and eight rebounds. Her field goal percentage was slightly better (41.6% to 40%) but her mindset was different.
“The first time we played them I wasn’t really aggressive and I wasn’t playing as myself,” she said. “This time around I knew exactly what Pewaukee was going to do. I knew exactly how they would guard me so I had to take advantage of what I knew.”
Moore, a Seattle University recruit, had a three-point play early in the game that was followed by two free throws that gave her 1,000 career points.
Her play was part of a big start for Pius, which led by as many as 14 points in the first half before Pewaukee cut the deficit to as few as three in the second.
“I feel like I can take it in the post against anybody,” Moore said. “That’s the thing about my senior year. I knew I could do it (previous years), but senior year I knew this is my time to shine.”
Oconomowoc boys on a roll
The Oconomowoc boys aren’t the team you want to face right now.
The Raccoons (10-5) have won six straight games, a run that includes two victories over teams that were stateranked at the time, Arrowhead and Middleton, and another over a team, Sun Prairie, that just knocked off stateranked Madison La Follette on Friday.
The latest win in that stretch was a 42-40 victory Saturday over Big Eight leader Middleton in which senior guard Jake Fisher (13 points) was the game’s only double-digit scorer.
The only thing Oconomowoc hasn’t done during this hot streak is make up much ground in the Classic 8 Conference. It is tied for fifth, three games behind Waukesha South, but that could change quickly in a conference race that is tightly packed.
Historic game for Riverside’s Scruggs
With her 52-point performance Tuesday in a 105-19 victory at Milwaukee Marshall, Milwaukee Riverside senior Sidney Scruggs became the second player in Milwaukee Public Schools history to record a 50-point game.
According to records kept by wissports.net, former Milwaukee Pulaski standout Shatima McFarland had seven 50-point games from 2016-20 and holds the conference’s single-game scoring record of 59 points.
Scruggs also had 13 rebounds, 10 steals and seven assists.
Whitnall’s first-rate second option
Whitnall’s Danilo Jovanovich is garnering a lot of attention this season and as one of the state’s top players, it’s deserved. Don’t overlook the team’s second-best player, though. John Pitta has been a steady right-hand man for the University of Miami recruit.
The play of the senior point guard during the team’s 88-63 win over Racine Case on Saturday at Grafton was symbolic of his impact: 15 points, eight assists, one turnover.
He has been extremely consistent, scoring double figures in every game and maintaining a 2.2-to-1 assist to turnover ratio.
Great timing for East
The Brookfield East girls edged Arrowhead, 68-66, in triple overtime Saturday at the Pius XI Popes Invitational with junior guard Annika Pluemer scoring the go-ahead basket off a pass from junior Maddy McGath with about a minute to play.
The game was a great test of mettle for the Greater Metro Conference leader, which has received almost no challenge since it beat Germantown on Dec. 10. That run featured seven double-digit victories in East’s previous eight games. The margin of those wins was 26 points.
The performance sets the stage for two contests this week that could land the Spartans with the area’s No. 1 ranking next week: at Germantown on Tuesday and against No. 1 Kettle Moraine at home Thursday.
Border wars
Wisconsin earned more bragging rights over its neighbors to the west Saturday when it won the Border Battle with Minnesota on Saturday at Minneapolis North. Area teams weighed heavily in the 4-2 win with Wisconsin Lutheran, Pewaukee and Menomonee Falls each scoring double-digits wins. Lutheran’s and Falls’ victories came over teams ranked by Minnesota Basketball News.
● Menomonee Falls scored an 83-70 victory over Totino-Grace, the No. 1ranked school in 3A, which is comparable to Division 2. North Carolina recruit Seth Trimble scored 35 points, giving him 30 or more for the fifth time in the last six games. Senior forward Steven Clay posted a season-high 27 points.
● Wisconsin Lutheran defeated Minnehaha Academy, 78-60, with the help of another big game from junior guard Jamiir Allen, who finished with 25 points on 7-for-14 shooting, and sophomore guard Kon Knueppel, who had 17 points on 7-for-11 shooting. Minnehaha, the school that produced Orlando Magic rookie Jalen Suggs and Gonzaga standout Chet Holmgren, is ranked No. 4 in 2A.
● Pewaukee beat Robbinsdale Armstrong, 78-52, as sophomore guard Nick Janowski (9 for 13) had 25 points and junior forward Milan Momcilovic (6 for 10) added 15 points for the Pirates, who shot 59% overall and 39% from three-point range.
● Brookfield East also participated in the event, losing, 62-59, to Minneapolis North, the top-ranked 2A team in the state.