Falcons make history with solo EWC crown

Sheboygan Falls senior guard Alyse Hucke swished a half-court 3-point shot at the end of the first half, which carried the Sheboygan Falls girls basketball team to its first-ever outright Eastern Wisconsin Conference championship, with a 54-47 triumph over the Two Rivers Purple Raiders Thursday, Feb. 25, in Sheboygan Falls.

The seven-point victory vaulted the Falcons to sole possession of the EWC title for the first time in program history.

Hucke’s bomb gave the Falls squad the momentum it needed to carry through the second half and post its 12th straight win to go to 12-0 in the EWC (14-5 overall).

“It is an awesome feeling,” said Hucke. “Winning the conference alone is better than the year we had to share it. I feel we have a very good team.”

The Falcons won their second conference championship in three seasons under coach Leroy Hamilton. The Falls squad earned a share of the EWC crown in 2007-08.

“We knew Two Rivers would test us,” said Hamilton. “They struggled against our press.

“We now have to keep working on getting ready for the playoffs,” he said.

After holding a 24-21 halftime lead, Falls came out strong in the second half, riding the wave of Hucke’s 3-point bomb and an 11-4 run to end the second quarter.

Falcons junior Cassie Quirt drilled a 3-point shot to start the third quarter and push the lead to 27-21. Two Rivers rallied back to tie the game at 27-27, with six-straight points.

Quirt and senior Lauren Carman hit consecutive 3-point shots to push the Falls lead back to 33-27.

The Falcons finished strong at the free-throw line in the fourth quarter, as it hit 10-of-14 shots in the last two and half minutes en route to the victory.

The Raiders closed to within two points (40-38), behind Becca Diedrich’s seven points.

Falls held off the rally, with some big shots from freshman Staci Hasler and senior Emilie Leffin. The steady free-throw shooting keyed the Falcons finish.

“We wanted to win this game so bad,” said Leffin. “It was a shaky start, but we pulled ourselves together.”

All-EWC standouts Diedrich and Carman faced off in battle, during the first quarter. Diedrich had eight points, as the Raiders took a 15-8 first-quarter lead. Meanwhile, Carman scored six points.

Carman put Diedrich on the bench with her second foul early in the second quarter, as the Falcons came back at the free-throw line, making 6-of-8 shots to cut the lead to 20-16.

Hasler’s offensive rebound and Leffin score on an assist from Carman cut the lead to one point.

Carman hit a free throw and Hucke’s 3-point goal to close the first half put Falls ahead for good.

Carman led the Falcon scoring with 17 points and 10 rebounds. Leffin finished with 11 points and eight boards. Quirt had nine points, with three steals and Hasler added eight.

“Taking the conference by ourselves was our goal all season,” said Carman. “It definitely feels good.”

Diedrich scored a game-high 19 points to lead Two Rivers.

Carman scored 18 points and grabbed a career-high 21 rebounds to lead the Falls squad to 67-50 victory over the New Holstein Huskies Saturday, Feb. 27, in Falls.

The Falcons improved to 13-0 in the EWC (15-5 overall), with one EWC game left at Kewaskum this Friday, March 5, in which they will try to cap an undefeated conference season.

Falls led by as many as 21 points in the first half and dominated the game throughout.

Leffin had a double-double with 14 points and 14 boards. Junior Brooke Buehler added 11 points and had four steals.

Falls has drawn a No. 1 seed in the WIAA Division 2 playoffs and will host No. 8 seed Mayville in a first-round playoff game Tuesday March 9, at 7 p.m.

The Falls junior varsity squad played their best defensive game of the season in shutting down Two Rivers 29-18.

Three players led Falls with balanced scoring. Olivia Warpinski scored seven points. Kelly Jens and Sara Ison both had six points, as the junior varsity unit improved to 7-5 in the EWC.

“We played solid defense and controlled the game,” said coach Sandy Duda. Jensen Hamilton tossed in 16 points and Anna Matthieu scored nine to lead the Falcons freshman team to their 12th straight conference win with a 45-30 victory over Two Rivers.

GIRLS
BASKETBALL
TWO RIVERS
	47
SHEBOYGAN
FALLS	54

Score by Quarters
Two Rivers…………15 6 9 17 - 47
Sheboygan Falls…..8 16 10 20 - 54
Two Rivers scorers: Amy Mohr 3, Danica Guehlsdorf 7, Bailey Payette 5, Kristin Plasky 5, Calli Wachowski 6, Jessica
Hrdina 1, Becca Diedrich 19, Hannah Buth 1.
Sheboygan Falls scorers: Alyse Hucke 4, Cassie Quirt 9, Brooke Buehler 4, Emilie Leffin 11, Staci Hasler 8, Lauren
Carman 17, Alli Danneker 1.
Three-point goals: Two Rivers - Guelsdorf, Wachowski. Sheboygan Falls - Hucke, Quirt 2, Carman.
Statistics: Two Rivers - field goals 17, free throws 11-20 (55 percent). Sheboygan Falls - field goals 14, free throws
22-32 (69 percent).

NEW
HOLSTEIN 50
SHEBOYGAN
FALLS	67

Score by Quarters
New Holstein……....10 8 15 17 - 50
Sheboygan Falls….24 15 17 11 - 67
New Holstein scorers: Chelsea Cash 17, Jenny Winkler 11, Amelia Mirsberger 9, Lauren Voelker 7, Tracey Lisowe 4,
Heather Klapperich 2.
Sheboygan Falls scorers: Lauren Carman 18, Emilie Leffin 14, Brooke Buehler 11, Staci Hasler 5, Alyse Hucke 5, Alli
Danneker 5, Cassie Quirt 4, Amanda Milne 2, Chelsea Powers 1, Lizzy Graumann 1.
Three-point goals: New Holstein - Winkler 3. Sheboygan Falls - Carman, Buehler, Quirt.
Statistics: New Holstein, field goals 18-54 (33 percent), free throws 11-17 (65 percent), rebounds 31, turnovers 16.
Sheboygan Falls - field goals 18-52 (35 percent), free throws 27-44 (61 percent), rebounds _______________________ 63, turnovers 7.