Lady Falcons surge to success

Great teams always know how to finish strong.

The Sheboygan Falls Falcons girls basketball team reached new heights during the 2009-10 season, making school history along the way.

Falls led the Eastern Wisconsin Conference from wire-to-wire, capturing the EWC championship outright with a 13-1 record (18-8 overall). It was school’s first-ever outright title for girls basketball and second overall EWC championship in three years.

In the postseason, the Falcons won their first regional championship in 31 years by defeating Mayville 71-46, Plymouth 55-28 and Kettle Moraine Lutheran 63-43.

Grafton stopped Falls 35-32 in a WIAA Division 2 sectional semifinal game, ending a season full of memories for the Falcons.

“We showed what we could do by the end of the year,” said Falcons coach Leroy Hamilton. “Our tough non-conference schedule prepared this team for the post-season. This was a team that enjoyed being around each other and worked hard together.

Hamilton’s strength of schedule proved to be beneficial for the Falcon in the postseason. Falls took on state-ranked teams like Oostburg, Howards Grove, Chilton, Dominican, Union Grove, and Freedom, during the very tough non-conference portion of its regular-season schedule

Although the Falcons went 2-6 against those non-conference foes, it served as a prelude to what Hamilton wanted his team to achieve by the end of the season.

“When you have a long season, you have to make it fun,” Hamilton expressed. “These girls knew how to have fun. It was a great team to coach. It was a memorable year.”

Falls scored an average of 55.6 points per game and held opponents to 45.1 point per game overall. The Falcons led the conference in scoring (819 points), defense (612 points), total rebounds (570), 3-point field goals (60) and free-throw percentage (60.9 percent).

Hamilton felt the team’s dominant play against several opponents was due to the imposing presence of two quality post players – senior captains Lauren Carman and Emilie Leffin.

Carman and Leffin led the team in almost every offensive category. They were both named to the 2009- 2010 All-EWC first team.

Carman paced the Falcons in scoring with 358 points (13.77 average) and rebounding (9.8), while compiling 26 block shots, 42 assists and a free-throw percentage of 73.7 percent.

“Carman was a very special player,” Hamilton said. “She was able to play the three or four position. Her presence on the floor made the team better.”

Leffin was second on the team in scoring, with 11.35 points per game. She also tied for first on the team in rebounding, with 9.8 rebounds per game.

“Leffin was a very consistent player,” stated Hamilton. “I could count on a double-double from her almost every night. She was a very dominant player inside.”

Hamilton felt both girls will be very hard replace. “We will have a hard time replacing two post players like Carman and Leffin,” he said.

Another player that Hamilton will have a hard time replacing is Alyse Hucke.

The enthusiastic senior was asked to accept a role of coming off the bench. She did so very well, often giving the team a spark when it needed it the most.

“Hucke accepted her role pretty well,” Hamilton expressed. “She was an emotional leader and also will be missed.”

The Falcons hope to return a good core of juniors and upcoming underclassman next season to remain at the top of the EWC.

“It will be important for us to replace our two post players,” expressed Hamilton. “They made up twothirds of our scoring and that will be a tough order to fill.

“I think next year’s team will be faster and more defense orientated, compared to this year’s team,” he

said.Other starters who led the Falcons were juniors Brooke Buehler, Cassie Quirt and freshman Staci Hasler.

Buehler and Hasler were named to the All-EWC honorable-mention squad.

Buehler led the team in steals, with 58, and was second on the team in assists, with 36. Hasler was third on the team in scoring at 8.38 points per game and second in steals with 54. Quirt was third on the team in rebounding.

The Falcons opened the season with four straight wins over St. Mary’s Springs 54-37, Waupun 51-45, Kiel 54-25 and Plymouth 69-54.

Three straight non-conference losses to Chilton 60-46, Oostburg 61-60 and Howards Grove sent Falls reeling to a 4-3 overall record.

Although the Falcons struggled in non-conference games, three more wins against EWC opponents boosted their conference record to 6-0. Falls gained wins over Kewaskum 55-46, Campbellsport 57-36 and Two Rivers 46-39.

A tough 48-47 loss to Dominican stunned the Lady Falcons, after they had multiple chances to win the game.

Falls bounced back to rout New Holstein 61-42 and Waupun 59-43, improving to 8-0 in the EWC.

Another ranked foe Union Grove gave the Falcons another close 50-47 loss, which dropped their overall record to 9-5.

Falls remained perfect in the EWC, as they put together a six-game win streak to run their record to 13-0 in the conference and clinch the championship in the process.

No. 1 ranked Freedom came in and stopped the Falcons streak, with a convincing 63-42 win.

With one EWC game left at Kewaskum, Falls started slow and never recovered, losing its first conference game 57-51 and finishing 13-1 in the EWC.

In the WIAA Division 2 playoffs, the Falcons rolled to their first regional title in 31 years, as they defeated Mayville, Plymouth and Kettle Moraine Lutheran by an average margin of 24 points.

In the sectional semifinal game, a defensive-minded Grafton squad stood in the way of the Falcons’ dreams of going to state.

Although, Falls dominated in rebounding and played stout defense, a poor shooting night added up to their lowest scoring output of the season in a 35-32 loss.

A season full of memories, will likely give future Falcons’ teams plenty of incentive to keep the program performing at a high level.

Carman became the first player in Falls girls basketball history to score 1,000 career points. The Falcons set a program record with 13 EWC wins and tied another school record, with 18 overall wins. The Falls defense held teams to an average of 45 points.

In the end, the Falcons fulfilled the goal of bringing back a regional trophy and being escorted back to Sheboygan Falls, which was yet another very proud moment for the 2009-10 Lady Falcons.