Offense was hard to come by in the first half for the Shawano Community High School girls basketball team Tuesday night.
West De Pere, with one of the best defenses in the Bay Conference, held the Hawks to 13 first-half points in a controlling 49-33 road victory Tuesday night.
The Phantoms, who allow just under 38 points per contest, used their lone senior, Franki Bellerud, to shut down the Hawks’ best shooter, Morgan Klitzke, who averages nearly 12 points per game.
“They shut people down,” Shawano head coach Ryan Koenig said. “We thought that if we score 40 or 45 tonight, we have a chance.”
Senior center Erika Dunnam scored the first points of the game on a layup just 30 seconds in, but Shawano was held scoreless for the next four minutes.
A Teagan Monfils steal and fastbreak layup, followed by Tori DePerry’s 3 at the 11:05 mark in the first half pulled the Hawks within one, but West De Pere rattled off an 11-2 run over the next four minutes, causing Shawano to switch into a matchup zone, which threw the Phantoms off for the following few possessions.
Although Shawano struggled shooting the ball, Koenig thought his team was in position to make a run.
“Morgan (Klitzke) can hit a 3 to bring us within 7 or 9,” Koenig said. “And you never know what happens after that because we would have the momentum.”
The shots just didn’t fall for the Hawks, though. Klitzke was held to 3 points. Her sister, Megan, tallied a team-high 10 points.
Koenig believed his team played passive in the first half, not being aggressive enough and attacking the stout West De Pere defense. So he switched Shawano into a full-court press, which caused another easy turnover, in the final minutes of the first half, but the Hawks cut not cut the lead to fewer than 10 points the rest of the night.
The second half was more of a tightly called contest, sending both teams to the free-throw line for a combined 33 attempts. Each team was 2 of 4 from the charity stripe in the first half.
The Hawks (8-5, 3-4 Bay) converted on eight of their 12 free-throw attempts in the closing half. The Phantoms connected on 15 of their 21 second-half free throws, enabling them to maintain a secure lead.
The Hawks could only cut the deficit to 11 after Annelies Young made two free throws with 8:29 remaining.
Once the lead was cut to 11, West De Pere made only two field goals the rest of the game, with 13 points coming from the free-throw line.
West De Pere (9-3, 7-0 Bay) was led by Liz Edinger’s 19 points. Forward Hannah Stefaniak scored 14 points.
West De Pere (49)
Carriveau 2 3-4 7, Evans 1 4-6 6, Edinger 7 4-6 19, Bellerud 0 3-4 3, Stefaniak 5 4-6 14.
Shawano (33)
Monfils 1 0-0 2, Mo. Klitzke 1 0-0 3, Me. Klitzke 4 2-4 10, To. DePerry 2 2-4 6, Hokenstad 1 4-6 6, Young 0 2-2 2, Gueths 1 0-0 2, Dunnam 1 0-0 2.
West De Pere 23 26 — 49
Shawano 13 20 — 33
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