GIRLS BASKETBALL Trojans beat Shorewood, 40-27

Wauwatosa West coach Ron Gavinski has a way of categorizing victories. There are "great" wins, "good" wins and "bad" wins. After beating the Greyhounds, 40-27, at Shorewood on Friday, Gavinski had this to say.

"It was one of the 'bad' wins," he said. "I asked the girls and all 14 of them agreed it was not a good win."

A poor shooting night was the main reason for Gavinski's assessment.

"We probably missed 15 layups, at least 10 of them uncontested," he said. "That actually made the game a lot closer than what it was."

The Trojans started the game 9-0, but then missed four uncontested layups and could have had a 17-0 lead according to Gavinski.

After a close first half in which the Trojans led, 19-17, they turned up their defense even more in the second half and rolled to a victory.

Tosa West held Shorewood to 10 points after intermission, including only two points in the final quarter.

"We played great defensively, but not offensively," Gavinski said. "I felt sorry for Shorewood (in the fourth quarter). We stayed really aggressive and came after people.

"We turned them over a ton. They are not a bad team. They are better than they were last year."

The Trojans, meanwhile, had their best offensive output of the night with a 14-point third period, as they went into the fourth period with a 33-25 advantage.

Six players scored for Tosa West, led by Jenna Engel with 12 points, including two 3-pointers. Latasha Harmon added nine points, including 5-of-10 from the free-throw line. Other Trojans to get on the board were Jessica Pike with eight points, Elise Ditscheit with six, Ashley Lindstrom with four and Paige Soles with one.

"Late in the second half I played the younger kids to give them some time," Gavinski said, "but they didn't play well."

Gavinski had praise for four girls in particular.

"Engel had a good offensive game," he said. "Elise Ditscheit was decent, Latasha Harmon did what she always has and Jess Pike is starting to score. Those were the girls that stood out.

"I'm (happy) with the progress, where we're at. They're buying in."

Tosa West is 2-2 overall and 2-1 in Woodland Conference play coming into the week.