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Parker girls roll in opener

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Parker vs Beloit Memorial Girls Basketball

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JANESVILLE — During long stretches Thursday night, the Janesville Parker girls basketball team brought Beloit Memorial's offense to a halt in the Vikings' Big Eight and season-opening 50-23 victory.

But afterward, Parker High's floor general felt there was another team whose tempo needed some slowing.

"We just need to slow down a little bit," junior point guard Danielle Flood said. "Ultimately, we were able to find shots, but we just need to slow things down."

"The bottom line is, it's still the first game. They're still nervous, and they want to do so well that they go too fast," Parker coach Tom Klawitter said.

The Vikings darted out to a 7-0 lead in the first three minutes, but they struggled throughout with the Purple Knights' trapping zone defense.

"That's completely my fault. We were not prepared for that," Klawitter said.

Beloit (1-1) was not prepared for the wingspan of Parker's 6-2 senior post player, China Franklin, who swatted four of her six blocked shots in the first 4:10.

"You can't coach 6-2. (China) was one of our bright spots tonight," Klawitter said. "She was steady and is very smart out there. She did her job and should've had more touches offensively."

Two minutes into the second quarter, Franklin hit the floor to collect a loose ball before slipping a feed to classmate Kaynesha Zinn, who made a lay-up. On the next trip, Zinn drove the right baseline before bouncing a pass along the boundary to freshman Ashley Hartwig for a zero-footer at the left block. Hartwig made one of two free throws 14 seconds later, and the Vikings had a 16-3 lead.

Not long after holding Beloit to three points in the first 13:40, Parker's staunch defense held the Knights without a field goal for a stretch of 11:36, which included the entire third period.

"As coaches, we can get too picky sometimes, and I'm sure when I look at the tape I'll be happier with the way we played on defense," Klawitter said.

When Megan Slavish ended the Knights' field-goal drought with a jumper from the right elbow with 6:44 left, the Vikings were up 36-14, and Klawitter was slowly starting to clear his bench. He ultimately got everyone on the roster minutes, and 10 different Vikings scored.

The Vikings' two freshmen combined for 11 points. Hartwig put up seven, and Julia Dement didn't play until the fourth quarter, during which she hit all four of her free-throw attempts.

Flood led all scorers with 15 points and had three very different three-point plays. After swishing a three-point shot from the right wing to give her team an 11-2 lead after a period, she gave the Vikings a 23-10 halftime lead by hitting a triple from a couple of feet beyond the arc at the left wing with six seconds left.

She made the Vikings' lead all but insurmountable with a traditional three-point play after dribbling coast-to-coast and finishing with contact. When she made the free throw, Parker led 43-18.

Perhaps most impressively, Flood passed up an open three-pointer from the right wing late in the third before moving the ball to the corner where junior Savannah Shepler drilled a 3 of her own.

Several times when the Vikings' offense stalled in the half-court, Flood improvised by penetrating and hitting difficult runners or making last-second assists when the zone collapsed on her.

"It's an instinct thing. You've just got to know to keep playing no matter what happens in a play," Flood said.

PARKER 50, BELOIT 23

Beloit (23)—Johnson, 1-0-2; Hankins, 1-0-3; HaiLawver 1-0-2; Gill 0-2-2; Heldt 2-0-4; Slavish 1-2-4; Mauel 0-1-1; Gauvin 0-5-5. Totals: 6-10-23.

Parker (50)—Franklin, 2-1-5; Pernot 2-0-5; Larson, 0-1-1; Flood, 5-3-15; Shepler 0-1-1; Dement 0-4-4; Prokopec 1-0-2, Hartwig 3-1-7; SShepler 2-1-6; Zinn 2-0-4. Totals: 17-12-50.

Beloit Memorial 2 8 2 11—23

Janesville Parker 11 12 13 14—50

Three-point goals—Beloit Memorial 1 (Hankins), Parker 4 (Flood 2, Pernot, SShepler). Free throws missed—Beloit Memorial 12, Parker 10. Total fouls—Beloit Memorial 23, Parker 16. Fouled out—None.

Sophomores—Parker 60, Beloit Memorial 25. Parker leading scorers: Bria Gorman, 12; Nicole Fugate, 12.