Verona ends Parker girls season
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WILMOT — If Saturday night is any indication, Janesville Parker's days of ruling Big Eight Conference girls basketball may be in jeopardy.
Verona, which will join the current nine-member league in the fall, sent a stern message to the Vikings and the rest of Big Eight in the WIAA Division 1 Wilmot Sectional final game.
The Wildcats busted out to a 14-point lead after the first quarter and cruised to a 52-39 win over the stunned Vikings. Verona (18-6) will play De Pere (22-2) in a WIAA state quarterfinal game on Thursday night at the Alliant Center in Madison.
Parker (20-3), which spent most of the season as the top-ranked team in the state, could not recover from a miserable start and woeful shooting night. The Vikings were 11-for-57 from the field, including just 3-of-18 from beyond the arc.
"You're not going to win if you score 39 points," Parker coach Tom Klawitter said. ""It's a disappointing way to go out, but it's not for a lack of effort.
"It was a typical, physical sectional final game, and we just couldn't turn the corner."
Parker trailed by eight at half and cut the lead to four on Bubba Quillman's putback with 4:30 left in the third. The Wildcats responded with a 10-4 run to end the quarter, and the Vikings would get no closer than eight the rest of the way.
Verona coach Angie Murphy put a triangle-and-two defense in on Friday, and her team executed the strategy to perfection. Parker's Catie O'Leary, who was coming off back-to-back 28-point games, was held to 14. The 5-foot-10 junior had 12 in an electrifying second quarter, but managed only two points in the second half. Verona's pressure caused O'Leary to force several long threes, and with her shot off, no one was there to pick up the scoring slack for the Big Eight's reigning Player of the Year. O'Leary made two threes in the second quarter, but was 0-for-7 in the second half.
"My girls executed perfectly, I'm so proud of them," Murphy said. "O'Leary's a heckuva player, and you have to try and take her out as much as you can and we were able to do that.
"Parker's knocked us out twice in the regionals, so the girls were pumped tonight. Obviously, getting off to the fast start really helped."
The Vikings could do little right in the first quarter. They made just one field goal and trailed 15-2 following Sadie Ewing's jumper with 1:13 left in the first. Freshman Danielle Flood got all four of Parker's points in the opening quarter, but the deficit proved too tough to overcome.
"The game was dictated by our lack of scoring," Klawitter said. "And it's a lot easier to make free throws and make shots when you're ahead by 10, and that's what they (Verona) did."
O'Leary's 14 led all scorers, but she was the only Viking in double figures. Sophomore Ali Tackett paced the Wildcats with 11, all of which came in the second half.
VERONA 52, PARKER 39
Verona (52)—McGowan, 3-0-7; Schaefer, 2-0-4; Ewing, 4-0-8; Buchierka, 1-6-8; Tackett, 4-3-11; Cropp, 1-3-6; Witte, 1-3-5; Melin, 0-3-3; toatls: 16-18-52.
Parker (39)—Klawitter, 2-3-8; O’Leary, 3-6-14; Quillman, 1-0-2; Newlin, 1-0-2; Prom, 0-1-1; Flood, 2-2-6; Vinn, 2-2-6. Totals: 11-14-39.
Verona 18 8 14 12—52
Janesville Parker 4 14 12 9—39
Three-point goals—Verona 2 (McGowan, Cropp). Parker 3 (O’Leary 2, Klawitter). Free throws missed—Verona 9, Parker 5. Total fouls—Verona 19, Parker 22. Fouled out—Ewing.
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