• 
• CLASS
• JOBS
• AUTO
• HOMES

Craig tumbles to West

Eleven third-quarter turnovers by the Janesville Craig girls allowed Madison West to open up a 19-point lead as the Regents rolled on to a 63-44 Big Eight Conference victory here Saturday.

“We must have had 40 turnovers for the game, and every one of those are possessions you just don’t get—meaning you’re not scoring,” said Craig coach Mark Marsden. “There’s no way you overcome that.”

For the record, Craig committed 32 turnovers, but the damage was done in the third quarter. The Cougars held West’s leading scorer, Ellie Pearson, to just three points in the quarter, but West relied on fast-break layups from its backcourt players following Craig turnovers.

A 37-31 game with West leading at the half turned into a 53-35 romp heading into the final period.

West (6-3, 6-2) has asserted itself as a Big Eight contender with wins over both Janesville schools within a week. A dramatic come-from-behind win at Parker a week earlier was the result of a half-court press creating Parker turnovers.

Marsden said he knew West would come with a press, but the full court version against Craig created mismatches.

“We have done OK with the half court press. But, none of our kids had the confidence tonight to bring the ball where it should have been during the full court press,” Marsden said. “Instead of taking it to the middle of the floor, they took it to the side. With our smaller guards, it’s tough to see in that situation, and we turned it over. That’s something we’re definitely going to have to work on.”

The game began with a lot of promise for Craig. Despite eight first-quarter turnovers, the Cougars held Pearson to two points, got balanced scoring, including seven points off the bench and led by three, 21-18.

The game remained close in the second quarter, but Pearson heated up for eight points and the Regents led 37-31 heading into the decisive third quarter.

Pearson is a key to West’s success, but she does more than just score, said West head coach Lester Luehring.

“Her first three years we played her inside,” Luehring said. “She’s going to be a guard at the next level, so we put her out on the perimeter this year. She’s so tough to guard that if she decides to take it to the basket, she can create opportunities for the other players.”

Pearson got her points against Craig, a game-high 15, but Luehring received balanced scoring from all his starters. Liz Christianson and Kaylee Heller were in double figures with 11 and 10 respectively, Katie Poffenberger scored nine and Lauren contributed six. Veronica Cox scored eight points off the bench.

Anne Morgan and Whitney Storbakken each scored 10 points to lead Craig.

Things don’t get any easier for Craig. The Cougars will prepare next week for a Thursday game against league-leading Verona. The loss drops Craig to 4-6, 3-5.

WEST 63, CRAIG 44

Madison West (63)—Heller 4-2-10, Poffenberger 2-5-9, Pearson 7-0-15, Christianson 3-4-11, Ward 3-0-6, Cox 3-2-8, Sieben 2-0-4. Totals 24-13-63.

Janesville Craig (44)—Smith 0-1-1, Morgan 3-4-10, W. Storbakken 4-0-10, Marshick 1-2-4, Kennedy 1-0-2, Oliver 2-0-6, Leigred 1-1-4, Holzhuter 1-0-2, Hinman 1-0-2, T. Storbakken 1-0-3. Totals: 15-8-44.

Madison West 18 19 16 10—63

Janesville Craig 21 10 4 9—44

Three-point goals—Madison West 2 (Pearson, Chistianson), Craig 6 (W. Storbakken 2, Oliver 2, T. Storbakken 1, Leigred 1).

Free throws missed—Madison West 6, Craig 5. Total fouls—Madison West 11, Craig 15.

Sophomore—Janesville Craig 44, Madison West 31. High scorers: Ciarra Sroda 14, Emma Becher 10. Janesville Craig 9-1 overall, 7-1 in conference.

n Parker 66, Memorial 55—The Vikings broke out to a 17-9 first-quarter lead and rode it to victory.

The win lifts Parker to 6-2 in the Big Eight and 7-3 overall. Memorial falls to 2-5 and 3-6.

Catie O’Leary scored 16 of her game-high 24 points in the first half to boost the Vikings. Danielle Flood tossed in 17 points for the game. O’Leary and Flood sank three three-point goals apiece.

Memorial cut the deficit to 36-27 at the half, but could draw no closer.

Alica Evans scored 12 points for the Spartans and Taryn Olson added 10 points.

PARKER 66, MEMORIAL 55

Parker (66)—Franklin, 2-0-4; McDonald, 1-0-2; O’Leary, 6-9-24; Flood, 6-2-17; Kenerson, 0-1-1; Miland, 2-0-4; Shepler, 2-4-8; Zinn, 3-0-6. totals: 22-16-24- 66

Memorial (55)—Widholz, 4-0-9; Woods, 2-2-6; Koykkar, 3-0-9; Evans, 2-8-12; Golz, 3-1-9; Olson, 4-2-10. totals: 18-13-14 55.

Janesville Parker 17 19 15 15—66

Madison Memorial 9 18 13 15—55

Three-point goals—Parker 6 (O’Leary 3, Flood 3), Memorial 6 (Widholz, Koykkar 3, Golz 2). Free throws missed—Parker 8, Memorial 1. Total fouls—Parker 13, Memorial 18.