East girls host Spartans on Friday

The Wauwatosa East girls basketball team will open the Greater Metro Conference part of their schedule when they host Brookfield East at 7:30 p.m. Friday and then travel to Menomonee Falls for a 7:30 p.m. game Tuesday.

The Red Raiders are 1-2, having defeated Milwaukee Washington (1-1) on Tuesday at home to open the week.

Katie Salmon led the way with 16 points, as the Red Raiders rallied in the final quarter to win, 44-42.

East led 23-21 at intermission, but the Purgolders took the lead with a 16-12 third period to go into the fourth quarter with a 37-35 lead. But the Red Raiders almost doubled the score (9-5) in the final period to eke out the win.

Tosa East had suffered a disappointing 49-25 loss at Waukesha North on Friday night after playing well in their season opener a few days before in a 52-37 loss to Wisconsin Lutheran.

"Friday was disappointing and frustrating for us all," Tosa East coach Rob Hamill said. "We felt we opened the season in a pretty positive way. Though the score didn't reflect the nature of the game against WISCO, we played hard, with confidence and in an organized way."

In the loss to the Vikings, the Red Raiders made a couple of mistakes right before half that led to a 32-22 deficit. Then they missed some easy shots in the second half and that was the story.

"Overall though it was a good first step with lots of positives to build on," Hamill said. "Friday did feel like a step back."

The Red Raiders shot 22 percent in the loss to the Northstars, but they still trailed only 33-22 after three quarters. Tosa East got the lead down to four often, but several easy opportunities didn't fall and that set the tone for the rest of the second half.

North then scored 16 fourth-quarter points while Tosa East made three.

"We really had a hard time getting the ball in the hoop," Hamill said. "It is going to be hard to win any games when shots aren't going in. The frustrating thing for us was that almost all of the shots were in the lane right around the hoop."

"We were getting the shots and put-backs that we wanted. They simply didn't go in."

Having allowed 52 and 49 points in two games, the Red Raiders also have to improve on the defensive end.

"We have got to play much better on the defensive end," Hamill said. "There were way too many uncontested shots and we had difficulty getting through screens."

But Hamill definitely sees positives in the first two losses.

"Our senor captains Emily Jensen, Katherine Olenizak and Lydia Taylor have done a good job stepping up to the leadership challenge and have worked to stay positive themselves and lead the team through example," he noted. "Sophomore Katie Salmon continues to impress us with her ability to get to the hoop.

"As the season goes on we are confident she will figure out how to finish her shots and become a real problem for any opponent we face."

- Tom "Sky" Skibosh