Parker girls hold off Craig
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JANESVILLE — It takes an awful lot to please Tom Klawitter.
The longtime Janesville Parker girls basketball coach thrives on perfection from his teams.
He didn’t get that Friday night, but the Vikings were good enough to earn a 58-50 Big Eight Conference win over Janesville Craig.
The victory was Parker’s 52nd in the last 54 games against Craig and kept the Vikings one game behind front-running Middleton and Verona.
Parker (16-5, 14-3) looked good at times but sputtered down the stretch as the Cougars (7-14, 6-11) whittled a double-digit deficit down to five with 39 seconds left. The Vikings clinched the win on a Danielle Flood free throw, and two more from Kathy Pernot with 23 seconds left.
“On the positive side, we came out the second half, started strong and should’ve buried them,” Klawitter said. “But we’ve got to do a much better job defensively than we did in the fourth quarter.
“It’s a matter of taking care of the basketball and making good passes, something we didn’t do a lot of in the fourth. But we made enough free throws to keep our heads above water.”
The Vikings struggled from the foul line the entire game—misfiring on 13 of 35 attempts—but made 10 of 15 in the fourth.
Parker led 27-20 at half and began the second half on a 6-0 run to quickly push the lead to 13. Senior forward Kaynesha Zinn scored all six points for Parker and finished with 17.
The Vikings led by 12 after three quarters, and after a Zinn turnaround jumper with 5:11 left pushed the lead to 48-32, Parker appeared to be on cruise control.
Craig rattled off a late 15-4 run behind nine points from Amanda Hamilton but could get no closer.
Despite the setback, Craig coach Mark Marsden said his team had a good week by playing Big Eight co-leader Verona and Parker tough on the road.
“I’m not so concerned about our record right now as I am about how we’re playing heading into the tournament,” Marsden said. “And I still think we’re going to be a tough out.
“Our goal is to find a way to get to the sectional so we can have a chance to play on our home court.”
Flood led all scorers with 18, while teammate Savannah Shepler added 12.
Hamilton’s 12 points paced the Cougars, and Emily Hinman added 11.
PARKER 58, CRAIG 50
Craig (50)—W. Oliver, 2-1-6; Hamilton, 4-2-12; Kennedy, 1-1-3; Morgan, 2-2-6; Hinman, 2-7-11; Marshick, 2-0-4; Storbakken, 2-0-6; L. Oliver, 0-2-2. Totals: 15-15-50.
Parker (58)—Franklin, 1-2-4; Pernot, 0-2-2; Flood, 5-7-18; Shepler, 3-5-12; Zinn, 7-3-17; Hartwig, 1-3-5. Totals: 17-22-58.
Janesville Craig 10 10 10 20—50
Janesville Parker 12 15 15 16—58
Three-point goals—Craig 5 (Hamilton 2, Storbakken 2, W. Oliver), Parker 2 (Flood, Shepler). Free throws missed—Craig 5, Parker 13. Total fouls—Craig 23. Parker 19. Fouled out—Marshick.
Sophomores—Craig 58, Parker 24. Craig is 20-0 overall and 15-0 in the Big Eight. Leading scorers: Maddie Phillips (C) 19, Emili O’Donnell (C) 15.
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