GIRLS BASKETBALL Second-quarter drought leads to blowout loss

Sussex Hamilton blew away the Wauwatosa East girls early and won going away, 56-27, Friday at Sussex.

After jumping out to a 13-5 first-quarter lead, the Chargers almost shutdown the Red Raiders completely in the second period, outscoring them, 21-2, to take a 34-7 lead at halftime.

According to Tosa East coach Rob Hamill, a lack of rebounding hurt his team all night.

"Where we broke down in the Sussex game was basically playing pretty well early in the game," he said, "but then letting them have way too many second opportunities once we were able to get them to shoot more or less where they didn't want to.

"If one of our guys didn't box someone out it was almost a certainty that it was that person on their team who got to the ball because they were so aggressive to it."

So what happened in the second period?

"We didn't handle their intensity on defense well," Hamill said. "We got flustered and had a hard time doing something we do everyday - full-court press break."

The Red Raiders had 16 first-half turnovers that turned into 18 of their 34 first-half points, most coming in the second quarter. They hung in with Hamilton in the second half, being outscored only, 22-20.

"That in many ways was the story of the game for us," Hamill said. "Mackenzie Latt is also a pretty solid inside player, especially for a youngster."

Latt, a 6-foot sophomore, led all scorers with 20 points, as 10 Chargers got on the scoreboard. For Tosa East, Emily Jensen had seven points and Katie Salmon six.

Hamill looked ahead to the schedule.

"We have winnable conference and non-conference games ahead of us," he said. "The team is onboard with what we are trying to do - make the game a full-court game and run the offense that suits us.

"However, they recognize the need to play in a much more fundamentally-sound way on the defensive end and on the glass."

Hamill has been impressed with Menomonee Falls, Divine Savior Holy Angels and Sussex Hamilton, which he considers the top teams in the Greater Metro Conference.

Those are going to be very challenging games. We really don't have the athleticism to out jump and out quick the top teams in our conference so we must take better care of the basics. We do that, I know we believe we will win the winnable games and become tougher to beat.

"I think that will be the measure of the season. Did we turn the corner defensively and become a team that battles very hard all the time and becomes difficult to beat?"