Posted: Feb. 2, 2010 |(0) Comments

Homestead boys basketball

Behind a new conviction and the red-hot play of senior swingman Coy Smith, the Highlanders rolled to a 3-0 record last week and stayed in a tie for second in the North Shore Conference standings.

Despite having low-post stalwart John Laihinen at the all-state football banquet, the Highlanders overcame a rough start and got 33 points from Smith in a 69-61 nonconference victory over Sheboygan North on Saturday.

The night before, they had little trouble routing North Shore cellar-dweller Grafton, 59-33, as Smith had 22 points. Homestead opened the week by overpowering area rival Brown Deer, 70-62, on Jan. 26.

"We were looking at the schedule and we thought we had a chance at getting a few in a row," said Highlanders coach Ray Curry. "We had different guys step up, especially Coy. … It's nice. We've won four in a row, and we've got ourselves in pretty good position. We're not satisfied, but we are pleased with the way we're playing."

The Highlanders (5-3 in North Shore 9-6 overall) started the week tied for second in the North Shore with Bay and Germantown. They visited Milwaukee Lutheran (4-4, 8-5) on Tuesday and then will host Cedarburg (3-5, 7-7) at 7:30 p.m. Friday. Homestead scored narrow wins over both in the first round of league play.

Then on Feb. 9, they have a challenge when they host state-ranked and Greater Metro Conference leader Menomonee Falls (9-0, 12-3) in a 7:30 p.m. tilt.

The nonconference tilt could have seeding ramifications for WIAA sectional play next month.

And Curry has reason to be confident in facing just about anyone the Highlanders have on their schedule now. They were also missing Bryan Bronaugh (college football visit) against North and found themselves down 15-5 right at the start against the Golden Raiders.

But then Homestead finished the quarter with a 15-2 burst of its own and took a 20-17 lead at the end of the period.

They never trailed again, though North did get the game down to two points early in the fourth quarter. But Homestead hit 22-of-34 free throws on the night, including 10 of 13 from Smith who also had five 3-pointers.

Dominic Wilder had 11 and Lamonte Moore added nine. Curry praised the effort of underclassmen post players Max Beckers and Luke Worthington.

Against Grafton, the Highlanders got off to a 16-1 start against the struggling Blackhawks and never gave them a second look.

Wilder added 13 and Laihinen 10 for the Highlanders.

Homestead took a 36-29 halftime lead on Brown Deer (5-7, 5-11) and held on for the nonconference win as Laihinen had 24, Smith 22 and Moore 12. Homestead struggled at the line, hitting only 15 of 28 attempts.

Kierre Ogbonna worked hard to keep the Falcons in the contest with 24 points while Joziah Mallett had 11. Brown Deer has now lost eight of its last nine games.

"Ogbonna's a nice player," Curry said. "He can go inside and then come out and pop the three. ... In the end, I think our experience at guard did the job."

Nicolet girls basketball

Whitefish Bay made it difficult for the league-leading Knights for a half, but then Nicolet's defense just proved to be too much as it remained unbeaten in league play with a 50-26 win Friday.

"It was a close game until the second half," said Knights coach Corey Wolf, "but then our defense after the break was probably the best of the year."

The third-ranked in state Knights maintained their two-game lead in the North Shore at 8-0 in league play and 13-1 overall while the Blue Dukes fell to 4-4 and 6-7, respectively. Nicolet will host Grafton (5-3, 9-4) at 7:30 p.m. Friday while Bay will host Port Washington (1-7, 2-11) the same night.

With their patient style, the Blue Dukes forced the Knights into a slower game and had a manageable gap at the half (20-12), but Nicolet stretched out the margin to 33-20 at the end of three quarters.

"They make you work so hard on defense, sometimes up to a minute but we really maintained our intensity and that was the difference," said Wolf. "I think we also learned that while we like to speed things up, we can also slow it down when we have to."

Brittney Fair had 12 points and Ashley Green 10 for the Knights while Elisabeth Johnston had 12 for the Blue Dukes.

Nicolet and Homestead gymnastics

There was talent galore in the North Shore/Greater Metro Conference triangular meet at Homestead on Jan. 28, but in the end, Nicolet's depth won out as the Knights turned in an impressive mark of 140.2 points.

Brookfield was second with 128.725 and Homestead third with 127.4.

The Knights, who will host their own invitational at 10 a.m. Saturday, were led by Leah Fischer and Lexi Stevens. Stevens won the all-around with a 35.9 score and also claimed the balance beam (9.425) while taking second in floor exercise (9.2) and third on uneven bars (8.625).

Fischer, meanwhile, was second in the all-around (35.825) while taking second on bars (8.775), and third on vault (8.8), beam (9.1) and floor (9.15).

For Homestead, Cori Sanduski won the bars (8.9) and Katelyn Wright the floor (9.3). Wright was also second on beam (9.2) and third in the all-around (35.775).

The Highlanders will also be at the Nicolet Invitational, which also features defending state Division 1 champion Arrowhead, Shorewood, Waukesha and West Bend West in the nine-team field.

Nicolet boys swim

In their last tuneup before the North Shore Conference meet this coming Saturday, the Knights dropped a dual meet decision to league rival Cedarburg on Jan. 28.

"We swam pretty well but we got overwhelmed by their freestylers," said Knights coach Dwight Davis. "We've gotten better in the specialty strokes, but we're still a year away in the other areas."

The league meet will be at Port Washington this year with diving at 5 p.m. Thursday and swimming at 11 a.m. Saturday.

"A lot of the guys will be tapered," Davis said. "This is really a team for the future."

Ben Wynn won the 100-yard and 500 freestyles for the Knights while Noah Gilday claimed diving and Grant Wilkie also had a strong meet.

Shorewood girls gymnastics

An equipment failure with the parallel bars didn't distract the Greyhounds as they were a competitive third in the Menomonee Falls Indian Invitational on Saturday.

The Greyhounds scored 91.5 (without the bars) for their spot as Falls/Germantown won with 97.875.

The best efforts for Shorewood were a series of eight-plus scores from Yve Bennett including an 8.025 on vault, 8.125 on balance beam and 8.05 in floor exercise. Asia Cruz had the highest individual score on the day for the Greyhounds with an 8.25 on beam. Hannah Fergal had a 7.7 on vault and Cruz a 7.775 in floor exercise.

Whitefish Bay boys basketball

Aside from the frustrating loss to North Shore rival Nicolet (see separate article), it was a productive week for the Blue Dukes, as they routed area rival Shorewood, 76-52, on Jan. 26 and then defeated Hartford, 67-56, on Saturday.

The Blue Dukes (5-3 in conference, 11-4 overall), opened the week tied for second in the North Shore with Germantown and Homestead. They took on Germantown (5-3, 11-5) on Tuesday and if they won that tilt, have an opportunity to pull into a tie for the North Shore lead when they visit Port Washington (6-2, 12-2) on Friday.

The Pirates hold a one-game advantage on the trio in second. Bay beat the Pirates, 62-48, on Dec. 18. Port is coming off a narrow defeat at the hands of Germantown.

"We have to play the game smoothly," said Bay assistant coach Joe D'amato, whose team has split its last four games. "Lately, we've had some trouble with that."

In the win over a struggling Hartford squad, the Blue Dukes showed a bit of a hangover from the loss to Nicolet the night before, only tying the Orioles, at 33 at the break. They took a 47-43 lead at the end of three quarters and then gradually pulled away in the fourth.

John Johnston showed that he is completely recovered from his two-week old ankle injury with 26 points while Jamie Schneck had 17, Ron Patten 10 and Jevontae Merriwether nine.

Border rival Shorewood held a 34-32 advantage in the middle two quarters against the Blue Dukes on Jan. 26, but could not overcome Bay's 44-18 combined lead in the first and fourth quarters. Bay burst out to a 20-7 first quarter advantage and never looked back.

Patten had a huge game with 28 points, including three, 3-pointers while Schneck had 19 despite a three-for-10 night at the foul line. Bay hit only 12-of-27 free throws on the evening. Deion Jackson-Body and Austin Malone-Mitchell had 14 apiece for the Greyhounds (4-8, 4-11).

Nicolet wrestling

The Knights will go into Saturday's North Shore Conference Tournament on a split decision having lost to Homestead 46-27 in its final league dual on Monday after a 55-22 win over Cedarburg on Jan. 28.

The league tourney will be at Cedarburg at 10 a.m. Saturday.

In the loss to Homestead, the Knights got pins from Matt Dineen at 135 and Trevor Cole at 285, while in the win over Cedarburg, Tamir Klein at 119, Bryan Dineen at 130 and John McKay at 215 all flattened their opponents.

Brown Deer wrestling

Though they are too shorthanded to actually win a dual meet, the Falcons remain competitive as they head into Saturday's Woodland Conference meet at Whitnall (9:30 a.m.).

In their most recent action, the Falcons dropped a 66-13 decision to Greenfield on Jan. 27. Brown Deer forfeited eight classes but went 3-3 in actual matches wrestled.

Justin Naber, who, as of last week, was the top-rated 152-pounder in state Division 2 individual rankings, claimed an 11-3 major decision, while at 160 Alex Russell snuck out a 10-7 decision. In the heavyweight (285 pound) match, Tony Rheinschmidt won by a pin in 2:28.

Homestead wrestling

The Highlanders bounced back after a disappointing loss to Germantown (see separate article) to close out the North Shore dual meet season with a 46-27 decision over Nicolet on Monday night.

Homestead and Nicolet will now take part in the North Shore Conference Tournament at Cedarburg at 10 a.m. Saturday. Multi-time defending champion Port Washington is the heavy favorite.

Getting pins for the Highlanders against Nicolet were Will Bornchill at 140 pounds, Jason Ottem at 145, Mike Kress at 171, Pat Farrell at 189 and Ryan Greve at 215. Conley Brown won 12-11 at 152 and other decisions went to Spencer Bold at 125 (11-1) and Nick Weyker at 130 (8-6).

The win allowed the Highlanders to finish at 5-2 in North Shore duals (10-12 overall) behind only Port Washington and Germantown.

Homestead also got an encouraging championship effort at the Germantown JV Invitational on Saturday as Zach (pinner's award) and Jake Mueller, Brad Devereux, Sam Landgraf, Beau Holter and Mensah Amuzu all took first in their respective weight classes.