Heights girls win on Senior Night

The setting seemed strange. Then again, nothing about sports these days is normal. Wisconsin Heights’ girls basketball team traveled to JustAgame Field House in Wisconsin Dells for its Senior Night on Jan. 21. And the Vanguards made it a memorable night, downing Belleville, 48-40. “The win was nice to get for the senior Vanguards,” Heights coach Bill Sullivan said. Kylee Doherty led the Vanguards with 14 points and 11 rebounds, while Hanna King added 11 points and nine rebounds. Sydnee Duhr added six points and nine rebounds, while Emily Van Riper had six points. Heights jumped to an early lead, but Belleville rallied back to tie things, 22-22 at halftime. The Vanguards had one of their better halves of the year after intermission and pulled away. “We did a nice job attacking the paint and rebounding the ball,” Sullivan said. “Great team effort.” Heights suffered losses in its other two games last week. Riverdale toppled the Vanguards, 70-65, on Jan. 18 and Lancaster downed Heights, 54-41, on Jan. 23. King led the Vanguards with 16 points against Riverdale, while Doherty added 15. Heights trailed, 43-28, at halftime, then made a second half charge that fell just short. “We did a decent job of taking care of the basketball and making shots, which we struggled doing this year,” Sullivan said. “We had a nice second half forcing some turnovers and getting back into the game.” In the Vanguards’ loss to Lancaster, King scored 18 points and Kerra Payne added seven. Heights trailed, 29-12, at halftime and couldn’t dig out of that hole. “We dug ourselves a hole in the first half,” Sullivan said. “We struggled again in the first half with taking care of the ball and struggled offensively.” Heights did score the first eight points of the second half and closed within 29-20. But the Flying Arrows hit consecutive three-point shots to push the lead back to 15. “We thought the girls played with more intensity in the second half and did a better job finishing off shots,” Sullivan said. “It has been a struggle offensively vs. teams that pressure us and scoring droughts throughout games.  “These kids play hard to the end and that is a credit to them. They don’t quit. Ball security and outside shooting are two areas we need to be better at, to give ourselves better chances to win games.”   Jan. 21 WIS. HEIGHTS 48,  BELLEVILLE 40 Heights ……....….. 22 26 — 48 Belleville ………. 22 18 — 40 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS (fg ft-fta pts) — Teela 1 0-0 2; Duhr 3 0-0 6; King 2 7-8 11; Payne 1 0-0 2; Doherty 7 0-0 14; VanRiper 2 2-4 6; Schaefer 1 1-3 3; Mickelson 2 0-0 4. Totals 19 10-15 48. BELLEVILLE — Foley 5 5-16 17; Stampfl 1 1-2 3; Prochaska 2 0-0 6; Edge 5 0-0 11; Caskey 1 1-5 3. Totals 15 7-23 40. 3-point goals: B 3 (Prochaska 2, Edge). Total fouls: WH 15; B 15.