Wauwatosa West defense clamps down in back-to-back battles

Wauwatosa West's girls basketball program enjoyed a week of progress, battling with a strong Whitefish Bay team and closing with a 55-29 win over Greendale. The Trojans defeated Greendale the first time around by a much closer 41-35 count

Tosa West fell to Whitefish Bay on Jan. 15, 33-20, but coach Ashley Imperiale was pleased with the Trojans' defense.

"We held them to only 33 points, which is an outstanding team defensive effort against a much bigger, stronger Bay team," Imperiale said. "We struggled to get our shots to fall, but I liked the glimpses of success I saw in our fast break offense."

Tosa West fell behind in the first quarter, 17-4, then battled Bay evenly the rest of the way. Elise Ditscheit finished with 6 points.

The defense was even better in the Woodland Conference win three days later against the Panthers, where a 20-4 fourth quarter helped put the game out of reach.

"Really, for the first time all year, we played almost the entire game from tip until the final buzzer of solid basketball," Imperiale said. "We had a little let up in the third quarter, bit I was very proud of how we responded and were able to take a deep breath and take back control."

The unselfish fastbreak concept was clicking. Abbey Jones had 14 points in the first half and played the aggressor in the rebounding department, while Ditscheit's 3-pointer during the third-quarter lapse helped her team keep momentum.

"It was good to see Jess Pike hit some shots and get into a rhythm, and Ashley Lindstrom and Megan Wendelberger had some very strong passes to get teammates high-percentage looks," Imperiale said. "It was a fantastic team win. We won all the intangibles of communication, hustle, energy and bench."

Now 5-6 in league games and 5-8 overall, the Trojans headed into a busy stretch including a meeting with Whitnall on Tuesday and Brown Deer on Friday. One of the area's best teams, Waukesha West, will visit Tosa West next Tuesday.