Oak Creek relies on its defense to extend streak
If there was ever a way for Oak Creek to close out its eighth straight undefeated Southeast Conference season this was it.
The Knights girls basketball team ground out a 40-26 victory over Franklin at home in the league finale Friday, taking control of the game during the final 10 minutes when they gave up just five points and held the Sabers scoreless for 61⁄2 minutes.
The win was anchored in defense, a facet of the game Oak Creek has learned to hang its hat on this season.
“We've struggled to score all year, but our defense has been phenomenal all year,” Oak Creek coach Steve Hluchnik said.
Oak Creek brings nice size to the defensive end of the floor. Two 6-foot-2 players and a couple of 5-10 players are the rotation, which adds a height and length factor that for opposing offenses.
Friday, they held Franklin junior guard Olivia Rangel to 12 points. Her 20-point performance in the teams' first meeting was the only 20-point game allowed by the Knights in league play. Racine Horlick senior Olivia Pitrof, the league's leading scorer with 24.8 points, averaged 10.5 against Oak Creek; Racine Case senior Ariyah Brooks, who ranked No. 2 in the league with an 18.7 average, averaged 11.5 against the Knights.
The Knights' play on defense kept the game close until they strung together an 11-0 run that turned a 21-15 deficit with 10:22 remaining into a 26-21 advantage with 5:23 to play.
The Knights' streak will be at 112 conference games at the start of the next season.
McNeal poised to add to streak
The area's second-longest streak of conference titles belongs to Milwaukee King, which defeated Milwaukee Languages, 75-69, Thursday to assure itself of at least a share of its seventh straight City Conference Gold Division title.
That success has paved the way for the Generals to have a division player of the year each season, a run that figures to continue this year with senior guard Khamya McNeal. The Syracuse recruit's performance – she is averaging 18.3 points, 5.8 rebounds and 4.1 assists in league play while shooting 53.6% overall and 35.1% from threepoint range – gives her a good chance of adding to a streak of MVPs that include Sydnee Roby (2017-19), Destinee Tooks (2016) and Shakeela Fowler (2014, '15).
Youth serves Rockets well
South Milwaukee (18-3) has just one senior, Northern Michigan recruit Kayla Tierney and just two upperclassmen – junior Isabella Campos is the other — and both are key parts of a rotation that helped fuel an 18-win regular season for the second straight year.
Truth about Brookfield Central
Brookfield Central is a team you don't want to see in your portion of the WIAA tournament bracket. The Lancers probably won't land a high seed Sunday, but have the look of a spoiler. They is much better than its 12-8 record indicates. Consider the average margin of their losses is 9.8 points.
Changes ahead for Hale
West Allis Hale coach George Sotiros announced his retirement effective the end of the season. Sotiros spent eight seasons on the job, the most memorable coming two years ago when he was the area's coach of the year after Hale won a share of the Greater Metro title, its first league title since 2000, and captured a regional title.