Published: March 4, 2016
Points left behind
Chargers fall short in return bid to state tournament
By NICHOLAS DETTMANN
Daily News
WEST ALLIS — Kettle Moraine Lutheran did a lot of good
things throughout the season.
But shooting free throws was not one of them. That was
costly in Thursday’s WIAA Division 3 sectional semifinal against Milwaukee
School of Languages.
The Chargers shot 6 of 13 at the proverbial charity stripe
in their 55-48 overtime loss to the Hawks at Central High School.
“I thought we controlled the things we could control,” KML
coach Jason Walz said. “We played hard. That’s the first thing, good effort. I
thought we rebounded the ball really well. I thought we defended well.”
But Walz knew where the game was lost.
“We left some points at the freethrow line,” he said.
“That’s the obvious one.”
Going into the game, KML (21-4) was shooting 55.2 percent at
the freethrow line.
How bad has it been at the freethrow line this season? In
the Chargers’ three losses this season, they were 46 of 88 (52.3 percent),
including 10 of 23 in a double-overtime loss to DSHA and 14 of 30 in a
buzzer-beating loss to Germantown.
KML couldn’t escape the poor freethrow shooting, especially
against a team averaging close to 70 points per game.
“There’s a lot of pressure,” Walz said. “As much as you try
to simulate the pressure, you have to give credit to School of Languages for
making theirs and we struggled a little bit. That’s why they’re moving on and
we’re done for the year.”
Languages (19-4) was 11 of 13 at the free-throw line.
Walz also pointed out other areas where the Chargers may
have lost the game to the Hawks.
“We had some empty possessions where we had decent post
touches, decent looks inside and couldn’t finish at the basket,” he said. “In a
game that’s this close, every possession matters.”
But it’s the free-throws that’ll be the glaring statistic
from this heartbreaking defeat. Because of it, the Chargers’ 21-game winning
streak is history and so is their promising season of a hopeful third straight
trip to state and a second state title in three years.
KML led 45-41 with 2:13 left in the second and missed its
only free throw the rest of regulation.
“It’s easy to dwell on that,” Walz said. “But you also have
to remember how many big shots did we hit? How many key stops did we get? I
guess I’ll try to remember those things instead of the what-could-have-beens
and stick with the what-was.”
There were 20 lead changes, 13 in the first half. The
biggest lead was 29-23 by KML late in the first half. The Chargers led 29-26 at
halftime.
KML went on an 8-0 run late in the first half to take a
29-23 lead. One of the key plays in that stretch was a 3-point play by Payton
Schneider. Interestingly enough, the Chargers were 3 of 3 from the free-throw
line in the first half.
Sydney Rossow played her best half of the season, scoring 12
points and doubling her season average.
“She was aggressive and she took the ball to the basket from
the free-throw line,” Walz said. “I thought she did a good job of attacking the
rim.”
Rossow finished with a team-high 14 points, matching her
season high. Lyndsey Soderbeck had 11 points and Schneider had 10.
The Chargers maintained the lead for most of the second
half, even as they went through a cold spell without any points for more than
three minutes.
Languages took the lead for the first time in the second
half on a basket with 6:00 left in the half, prompting a timeout by Walz.
Quickly out of the timeout, Soderbeck made a basket to give
KML the lead back at 37-36.
Languages’ Zheniah Jackson, the team’s leading scorer at
18.4 points per game, made a 3-pointer to give the Hawks a 41-39 lead with 4:14
left. Then, with 3:59 left in regulation, KML’s Sharla Boehlke made a 3-pointer
to give KML a 43-41 lead. Then a basket by Schneider stretched the lead to
45-41.
With less than five seconds remaining, things got confusing.
Languages’ Breahna Butler made a shot that tied the game at
45, but the scoreboard showed it was a 3-pointer. There was screaming from both
sets of fans about what the right call was. Some Languages fans had to be
pulled away from near their team’s bench as they tried to argue with officials.
On the ensuing inbound, Soderbeck went coast-to-coast, drew
contact, but didn’t get a call and didn’t get off a shot, sending the game to
overtime.
After Languages scored in the overtime, Boehlke made another
3-pointer to give KML a 48-47 lead with three minutes remaining. That held
until a basket by Jackson with 1:05 left gave the Hawks the lead for good.
Jackson finished with a game-high 17 points for the Hawks,
while Timeah Stotts and Butler each added 13 points.
It is also a proverbial monkey off Languages’ back as it had
lost to KML in each of the last two postseasons.
“It puts us over the top,” Languages coach Gary Huven said. “We
knew we could play with them. It just came down to getting the last couple of
points to get the win.”
For KML, it’s goodbye to seniors Boehlke, Annika Eller,
Schneider, Rossow, Emily Frey, Kim Zimmel and Alyssa Shipley.
“We had a special group of seniors that have been through a
lot together,” Walz said. “They led us to a lot of wins. To see them leave is a
natural progression, but we’ll look back at what they contributed.”
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