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La Follette defense shuts down Craig girls

JANESVILLE — On the week of the Super Bowl, Madison La Follette put a Pittsburgh Steeler-like defensive performance on Janesville Craig’s girls basketball team.

The Lancers put a half-court blitz on the Cougar offense, which led to a 53-37 victory in a Big Eight Conference game on the Craig court Tuesday night.

“That’s the best defense we’ve played all year,” said La Follette coach Steve Bartow. “We wanted to pressure the ball all over. You can’t let Craig get open shots.”

And except for a rare occasion, the Cougars (6-7, 5-6) never received a pass, took a dribble or a shot without a Lancer player’s hand or body getting in the way.

Craig made just eight two-pointers the entire game. Whitney Storbakken did bury three three-pointers, but as a team, Craig made just 12 of 40 field-goal attempts.

“They did a good job,” Craig coach Mark Marsden said. “We had another lackluster start. We did that against Beloit, and were able to come back, but we couldn’t do that tonight.”

Craig’s offensive woes began after Storbakken’s first three-pointer gave the Cougars a 5-4 lead with 3:42 left in the first quarter.

The Lancers (7-6, 6-6) went on a 20-4 run over the next 12-plus minutes, holding Craig to just one field for the rest of the first half. That came with just 20 seconds left in the half by Anne Morgan.

The Cougars trailed 24-12 at at the half.

Twelve first-half Cougar turnovers slowed the offense, and the Lancers were able to pull away at a consistent pace. Ten La Follette players scored, led by senior Samia Taylor’s 11 points.

Craig reduced its turnovers in the second half (7), but the Cougars could only cut their deficit down to nine points twice in the third quarter. The Lancers led by 13 at the end of three quarters and increased it to 18 right before the finish.

Morgan matched Storbakken’s 12 points to lead the Cougars, but no one else had more than five.

“It was turnovers early, and then late we had defensive lapses,” Marsden said.

LA FOLLETTE 53, CRAIG 37

La Follette (53)—Temple, 2-2-6; Micaelis, 0-2-2; Taylor, 5-1-11; Stephens, 3-1-7; Schwartzer, 2-0-6; Schleif, 2-2-6; Singh, 2-1-5; Probst, 0-2-2; Bradley, 2-2-6; Pollard, 1-0-2. Totals: 19-13-53.

Craig (37)—Smith, 2-0-5; Hamilton, 1-0-2; Hinman, 1-0-2; Morgan, 4-4-12; W. Storbakken, 3-3-12; Kennedy, 1-2-4, Magrath, 1-0-2. Totals: 12-9-37.

Madison La Follette 12 12 13 16—53

Janesville Craig 8 4 12 13—37

Three-point goals—La Follette 2 (Schwartzer 2), Craig 4 (W. Storbakken 3, Smith). Free throws missed—La Follette 9, Craig 5. Total fouls—La Follette 16, Craig 19.

Sophomores—Craig 59, La Follette 45. Leading Craig scorers: Emma Becher 15, Kylee Kennedy 11, Michelle Straw 11. Craig record: 10-1 in Big Eight, 12-1 overall.