It has been a while, but they’re officially back.
The Milwaukee-area high school girls basketball takeaways are back in action as we’ll highlight some of the bigger talking points and matchups throughout the rest of the regular season.
This week features four takeaways from the week that was, including the area’s two best teams continuing to dominate as their high-profile matchup against one another moves closer. Along with those two, there was a massive upset in the Milwaukee City Conference with an upset of previously unbeaten Milwaukee King.
Let’s dive in, shall we?
Arrowhead, Wauwatosa East continue to dominate as massive showdown looms
The two best programs in the Milwaukee area this season continued to show this week why they’re the two best programs in the area. Arrowhead cruised to a pair of victories over Oak Creek (77-51) and Kettle Moraine (74-51) to move to 11-0 this season with Minnesota recruit Natalie Kussow putting on a show in the victory over the Knights with a 30-point game, including a 6-of-11 performance from long range in the win. Only one of Arrowhead’s 11 victories has been by single digits with the Warhawks averaging 81.5 points per contest. They’ve been a juggernaut into the first half of January as the grittiest portion of the schedule looms, including arguably the biggest game of the season Jan. 27 against fellow unbeaten and Division 1 state title contender Wauwatosa East.
Speaking of those Red Raiders, they had an impressive week with victories over Greater Metro Conference title race rival Brookfield East (71-47) and Divine Savior Holy Angels (77-44) in their 12-0 start to the season. Red Raiders coach Mary Merg always preaches an emphasis on efficiency and sharing the basketball. Well, to those bullet points, Tosa East averages 81.1 points with 18.3 assists per game while shooting 53.2% as a unit, including a shade over 40% from 3-point land. It’s an added bonus when your best player in Mikaia Litza had 76 total assists coming into the game against DSHA and the third-best assists-per-game average across the state (6.9).
Golda Meir upsets King, ends Generals’ unbeaten start
Staying on the subject of buzzsaws, Milwaukee King had been decimating teams in its 10-0 start to the season. The Generals entered action Jan. 9 with a perfect mark, including all 10 of those victories coming by at least 12 points with an 84-6 rout of Milwaukee Juneau on Jan. 8.
That stretch came to a crashing halt, courtesy of Golda Meir in a shocking 44-39 upset of the Generals to end the unbeaten run. The Owls started 0-3, won four straight, lost four straight through the holiday portion of the season, and now have reeled off wins over Riverside and King this week. Aniya Blackmon and Amirah Taylor are one of the best 1-2 punches around the area that many may not know about. The senior pair combined for 38.3 points, 22.1 rebounds, 6.4 steals, 4.6 assists and 3.4 blocks per game coming into the eventual upset win. Blackmon’s 27.1 points per game average was sixth-best statewide, while Taylor’s 13.9 rebounds per game average was eighth-best. For a team that averages just 49.8 points per contest, they’ve needed every bit of Blackmon and Taylor’s production, and then some.
Pewaukee, Whitnall keep their roll going in the Woodland
Pewaukee has been a much different team since its lone defeat to Wauwatosa East on Dec. 20. The Pirates are a perfect 5-0 since the loss and have looked quite dangerous in that quintet of victories, including a 70-19 blowout of Waukesha North/South on Jan. 9 to cap a strong week-long stretch of wins over Kimberly and Woodland West title rival Pius XI Catholic to move to 9-1 this season. Like some of the other powerhouses around the area, it’s a more backloaded schedule for the Pirates with matchups against Oostburg, Kettle Moraine Lutheran and Whitefish Bay all before Feb. 4. Still, with Giselle Janowski feeling more and more like herself, along with a deep and talented rotation at Jim Reuter’s disposal, this team appears to be heading nowhere but up in the coming weeks.
In the Woodland East standings, it has been Whitnall controlling matters after a tough 2-2 start that saw it lose to two strong opponents in Saint Thomas More and Milwaukee Academy of Science by a combined 12 points. Since then, the Falcons have been flying high with seven wins in the last eight games, including an 86-35 rout of Shorewood. Riley Ward has been outstanding for the Falcons, averaging 20.2 points and 6.5 rebounds per game in her senior season, including 21 points and 12 rebounds in an 80-49 victory over Golda Meir on Dec. 27. Whitnall hasn’t lost since a 53-50 road defeat to Homestead on Dec. 9, and looking at the rest of the schedule it’s getting more and more difficult to find when that next loss could potentially come.
Whitefish Bay takes control of North Shore Conference title race
The only team that could figure out how to slow down Whitefish Bay last season was Hartford, but in the first matchup between the two North Shore Conference title contenders on Jan. 9, it was the Blue Dukes who drew first blood. Led by a stellar 26-point performance from Rowan Counsell, Whitefish Bay defeated the defending NSC champions rather convincingly, 72-54. Madeline Volpe added 17 points for the victors, while Sage Miskel chipped in with 12. It marked the fourth straight victory for the Blue Dukes, who haven’t tasted defeat since a 91-79 loss to unbeaten Arrowhead on Dec. 13.
For Hartford, the loss continued a bit of an odd trend in recent games, alternating wins and losses over the last six games. The Orioles are 3-3 with wins over Notre Dame Academy, Germantown and an excellent 62-60 victory over D3 title contender Kettle Moraine Lutheran on Jan. 6 after trailing 33-27 at halftime against the previously undefeated Chargers. But losses to Pewaukee, De Pere and Whitefish Bay have the Orioles trying to find their groove in the midst of a brutal schedule stretch that’s not getting any easier with Arrowhead on Jan. 13 in the school’s #HallStrong game to support physical education and health teacher Angie Hall, who was diagnosed with Amyotrophic Lateral Sclerosis (ALS) in October.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: Whitefish Bay seizes control of North Shore girls basketball race
Reporting by Michael Whitlow, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel / Milwaukee Journal Sentinel
USA TODAY Network via Reuters Connect
