East girls beat Lutheran, lose two other games

Wauwatosa East will host Divine Savior Holy Angels at 7:30 p.m. Feb. 24 following a week where they won only one of three games.

The Red Raiders defeated Milwaukee Lutheran, 44-41, in a non-conference home game on Feb. 14 before dropping a 54-23 loss to Brookfield Central on Friday at home. Tosa East then opened this week by losing a non-conference game at Homestead, 67-43, on Tuesday night.

The Red Raiders are 4-8 in the Greater Metro Conference and 6-14 overall with two regular-season games left.

Sophomore Katie Salmon (knee) - the Red Raiders' top scorer (10.3 points per game) - tried to go in the win over Milwaukee Lutheran, but it didn't work out.

"We tried getting Katie some playing time," Tosa East coach Rob Hamill said. "We warmed her up well and then hoped for best circumstances with injury. She wasn't ready. At that time we judged her at about 60 percent. It was very difficult for her to plant and respond to physical defense."

As a result, Hamill held her out against the Lancers on Friday, a very physical defensive team.

"Our focus for her is to be ready for playoff run," Hamill said.

In the hard-fought win over the Red Knights, the Red Raiders led the low-scoring affair, 17-16, at half and, 29-25, after three periods.

Eight players got on the board, led by Emily Jensen and Lydia Taylor with 10 points each while Maddie Packard added eight.

"We played defense well against Brookfield Central for first quarter and one-half and had the kind of energy we expect," Hamill said about Friday's loss.

"They got their first run the last half of the second quarter to be up by too much at half (23-9). We had good energy in the second half but just didn't have the offensive response to close that gap. We needed to be more physical underneath and it just didn't happen."

The Red Raiders scored only four, five and four points each period before getting 10 in the fourth quarter.

Anna Liewen scored 22 for Central while Deniesha Kinnebrew and Jensen managed to score eight each for the Red Raiders.

So despite the loss, Hamill wasn't as disappointed as he thought he would be.

"For the most part we had the kind of focus we needed and that is why I felt better after Friday than Tuesday," he said.

"I told the team that I don't think we are that far away from where we need to be. They were pretty disappointed after the Brook Central game and I asked them if they felt worse about the score or their performance. I don't know that they understood the difference.

"Their performance was not a step backward - effort and energy were there and when we get to full strength - and we bring it like we did on Friday we will be successful as we conclude the season and head into the playoffs."

The Red Raiders suffered through two tough quarter in the loss at Homestead on Tuesday. They led 14-13 after the first quarter, but then the Highlanders had two great quarters (22-6, 20-11) to lead 55-31 going into the final period.

Alayah Walls had eight points as 10 Red Raiders scored.

- Tom "Sky" Skibosh