Wauwatosa East girls basketball team snaps seven-game losing streak

One day after getting clobbered by Brookfield Central, 63-21, on Friday, the Wauwatosa East girls basketball team bounced back to defeat Brown Deer, 42-36, on Saturday in a non-conference battle.

Tosa East is now 0-5 in Greater Metro Conference play, tied with West Allis Central for last place. The Red Raiders are 2-8 overall, not counting a non-conference game with Milwaukee Lutheran Tuesday night.

Central's defense stood out Friday night at Tosa East, as it held the Red Raiders to four, four, four and nine points in each quarter. The Lancers took leads of 25-4 after the first quarter and 38-8 at intermission. The Red Raiders won the fourth quarter against Central's reserves, 9-7.

Central junior guard Emma Brauer held Tosa East star Katie Salmon, who is averaging 17.1 points a game, to four points.

"We talked about it before the game and thought we would try Emma on her," Lancers coach Dan Wandrey said. "Emma is smaller (5-foot-8) - I think Katie's about 6-feet. But she said 'I'll try it.' She is just used to guarding the perimeter, but she stayed on her when she tried to drive. She got frustrated and Emma got a couple steals. She did a good job."

With Salmon being shut down, Tosa East's high scorer was Aubrey Nigh with six points, coming on two 3-pointers.

"Our game against Brookfield Central provided no real surprises in terms of what they try to do," Tosa East coach Rob Hamill said. "We knew their personnel and schemes and were prepared.

"What was really impressive was simply how well they executed what they do. Lydia Rohde nailed just about every shot she took - some long threes included - during the first quarter when she scored 14. That set the tone for them. Coach Wandrey does a great job with his squad and it clearly showed."

The Lancers finished with seven 3-pointers - three each by Rohde and Abby Miller and one by Nicole Wellenstein. Rohde finished with 18 points, Miller had 13 and Sarah Fotsch added 10.

Things didn't start out well against Brown Deer, as Tosa East continued to struggle offensively, trailing 6-2, after one quarter. But the Red Raiders rallied to tie the game at halftime, 13-13, and then used a big third quarter (13-5) to take a 26-18 lead into the fourth quarter and increased it to 31-18 before the Falcons rallied to within two points.

"What was encouraging is that while we squandered our lead we didn't fall apart, kept aggressive and found a way to win," Hamill said.

The Red Raiders finished 20-for-32 from the free throw line, but 22 attempts came in the final quarter.

"I don't ever remember a team I was associated with shooting that many in any one quarter," Hamill said. "We made 14 of those 22 so that is really the statistical story of the game.

"What was also encouraging is it wasn't just one player at the line during crunch time - Katie Salmon, Sammie Osinski, Ellen Pickering and Natalie Patton all had big makes down the stretch to secure the win."

Salmon got her game back with 20 points followed by Alayah Walls with seven, as she went 7-for-8 from the free throw line, and Pickering with six.

"What was good for us was our ability to bounce back the very next night against Brown Deer," Hamill said. "Admittedly, Brown Deer was not at the skill level of Brook. Central, but they played very hard and were a big challenge for us.

"Earlier this season in similar circumstances we squandered a lead late and lost - that's progress and that is reason to be encouraged, especially after a difficult loss the night before."