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Parker girls bounce back against La Follette

JANESVILLE — The last thing Janesville Parker High School girls basketball coach Tom Klawitter wanted to discuss before Tuesday night’s game against Madison La Follette was Saturday’s overtime loss to Madison West, during which his Vikings relinquished a 22-point third-quarter lead.

Yet, as Klawitter sat on the bench watching his team warm up, he still was wondering what happened Saturday.

“We practiced yesterday, but there wasn’t much indication of what went wrong Saturday,” Klawitter said. “I don’t know if they’ll bounce back tonight, but I think I’ll find out after the first few minutes.”

Klawitter didn’t have to wait long for an answer. The Vikings broke open a 5-5 tie with a 16-2 run in the first quarter againstg La Follette and never looked back on the way to a 57-35 win that lifted them to 5-2 in the Big Eight.

Parker’s Catie O’Leary led all scorers with 26 points as the Vikings (6-3) dominated the Lancers (4-4, 3-4) in all phases of the game.

Klawitter said he saw improvement in his players, especially on defense.

“Everyone was commenting on a lack of offense in the West game, but after looking at the film, I’m convinced we broke down on defense, and that led to most of our problems,” he said., “Tonight, I saw a team effort on defense, and it shows in the final score.

“Everybody looks like a genius when they put a defense on us and then come back,” he said. “But it really was about our defense the last game. This time, we played better defense, and that was the difference.”

The Vikings’ early offense was mostly O’Leary. She scored 13 of the team’s 21 points in the first period.

Parker extended its lead in the second quarter behind solid defense and seven points by Savannah Shepler. The Vikings’ 35-15 halftime lead was never threatened.

O’Leary got her points, but Klawitter said he also was concerned about ball movement and getting other players involved in the offense.

“It’s obvious our opponents’ defensive schemes involve trying to stop Catie, or at least trying to contain her,” Klawitter said. “But there are times in the game when she needs to not have the ball. We need to be concerned about her off the ball and not on the ball.

“I know Catie loves to have the ball in her hands because she’s a big-time player, but she still has to believe in the other players, and I think you saw her doing that tonight.”

Parker now prepares for a Saturday night game at Madison Memorial.

“They have five 6-footers on their roster, so it will be an entirely different ball game for us,” Klawitter said. “Obviously, we need to concentrate on post defense, but we have to make it a full court game. That’s the key, making it a full court game.”

PARKER 57, LA FOLLETTE 35

La Follette (35)—Temple, 2-0-4; Michaelis, 1-0-2; Taylor, 1-0-2; Schwartzer, 4-0-11; Schleif, 3-0-6; Bradley, 2-0-4; Stephens, 1-0-2; Pollard, 1-0-2; Halm, 1-0-2. Totals: 16-0-35.

Parker (57)—McDonald, 1-1-3; O’Leary, 11-4-26; Flood, 2-1-6; Shepler, 4-3-13; Zinn, 1-2-4; Pernot, 1-0-3; Johnson, 0-2-2. Totals: 19-13-57.

Madison La Follette 7 8 9 11—35

Janesville Parker 21 14 13 9—57

Three-point goals— La Follette 3 (Schwarter), Parker 4 (Flood, Pernot, Shepler 2). Free throws missed—La Follette 6, Parker 6. Total fouls—La Follette 14, Parker 12.

Sophomores—La Follette 47, Parker 38. Parker’s leading scorer: Frankie Larson, 13.