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Parker girls overpower East

JANESVILLE — What do shooters do when their shots won’t drop?

Keep shooting.

Janesville Parker’s Catie O’Leary could not buy a basket in the first 12:32 of a Big Eight girls basketball matchup with Madison East here Thursday night. After sinking two free throws earlier, she finally drained a long three-pointer at the 3:28 mark in the second quarter. The 5-10 senior went on to score 13 points before the half to push Parker to a 56-37 victory over the Purgolders.

Parker coach Tom Klawitter said O’Leary, like other premier players before her in the Parker program, has learned to be patient when things aren’t going her way.

“It’s just like a lot of our kids that we’ve had in the past who have been the center of attention,” Klawitter said. “You gotta let the game come to you. Everybody has a game plan at the beginning, but can they sustain it?

“I thought that she started to get some open looks and started to move a little more,” he said. “I hope she realizes that because she was moving, she was open, and that was a good thing to see.”

O’Leary single-handedly took a close game and moved it into the win column for Parker. Her 13-point burst in the second quarter gave the Vikings a 28-20 halftime lead, which Parker built to a 23-point advantage before the benches were cleared midway though the final quarter.

Before she made an early exit, O’Leary scored a game-high 21 points.

The Vikings handed East a 62-43 defeat in their first meeting this season. This win boosted Parker to 9-3 for the season and 8-2 in the Big Eight. East dropped to 4-8, 3-7.

As the Vikings begin the season’s second half, Klawitter said he wants to make sure other teams won’t find it easy to prepare for the Parker offense. In Thursday’s second half, he had his offense move the ball around without pre-planned plays.

“Teams gear up for us, and they know, sometimes, what we’re going to do,” Klawitter said. “We need to just go out and play basketball sometimes and not let them know in advance what we’re doing. We’ve been working on just moving the ball around without any kind of a specific offense.”

It’s usually difficult to get a read on whether Klawitter is pleased during his post-game interviews. There is usually a pained look on his face, even when he’s looking at the bright side, but he gave a hint Thursday as to what he thinks Big Eight opponents will see from the Vikings the second time around.

“With some of my best teams (Klawitter has coached three state championship squads), I was afraid to go to the next game coming out of these doldrums of January,” he said. “I thought coming out of our practices that we were a little out of sync, but I think we’re as ready as anybody to attack the second half. Our kids will step up when they need to.”

Parker occupies third place in the Big Eight behind Verona and Middleton. Next week is a pivotal one for the Vikings. They travel to Madison West (7-2) on Tuesday for a rematch with the Regents, who handed Parker a stunning come-from-behind overtime loss earlier this month, and then host league-leading Verona next Friday.

PARKER 55, EAST 37

East (37)—Dyer, 3-9-16; Jackson, 1-0-2; Almou, 3-0-7; Olsen, 1-0-2; Clifcorn, 1-0-2; Deang, 1-0-2; Holmes, 1-0-3; Danils, 1-0-3. Totals: 12-9-37.

Parker (55)—McDonald, 2-1-5; O’Leary, 7-5-21; Flood, 4-0-9; Miland, 3-2-8; Sheppler, 2-0-5; Pernot, 1-0-3; Zinn, 0-2-2; Prokopec, 1-0-3. Totals: 20-10-55.

Madison East 12 8 8 9—37

Janesville Parker 13 15 16 12—56

Three-point goals—East 4 (Dyer, Almou, Holmes, Danils), Parker 6 (O’Leary 2, Flood, Shepler, Pernot, Prokopec). Free throws missed—East 6, Parker 2. Total fouls—East 15, Parker 15.

Sophomores—Parker 31, East 26. Parker leading scorers: Lindsey Clauer 8, Frankie Larson 6, Sadie Johnson 5.