Heights girls top West, fall to Belleville

Wisconsin Heights’ girls basketball team split a pair of games last week. The Vanguards defeated Madison West, 55-39, on Jan. 7 and fell to Belleville, 66-30, on Jan. 9. Heights is now 6-3 this season and 0-1 in the Capitol South Conference. The Vanguards put four players in double figures against Madison West. Jocelyn Brabender led Heights with 18 points, nine rebounds and five steals, while Haley Wipperfurth added 14 points and five rebounds. Sonja Severson added 11 points, 11 rebounds, three assists and two steals, while Avery Graham had 10 points, two assists and two steals. Heights led, 42-39, late in the game, then closed the contest on a 13-0 run. “Our press forced them to turn the ball over, which led to easy transition points,” Heights coach Tyler Fuchs said. “It was nice to see a well-balanced attack as we had four girls score in double digits.” Things were much tougher against Belleville, as the Glarner Knights built a 31-19 halftime lead and pulled away in the second half. Severson led Heights with 17 points and five rebounds. R.J. Kalscheur added four points and Brabender had five rebounds. “We knew Belleville was going to be a tough challenge,” Fuchs said. “They returned their entire roster and have a solid post player who is surrounded by excellent shooters.  “We competed hard the first half and the first handful of minutes in the second half. Belleville had a couple girls get hot in the second half and I think we ran out of gas. This was our fourth game in eight days — and going 3-1 during that stretch is a great result for us.” • On deck: Heights hosted Juda Monday and hosted Cambridge Tuesday. The Vanguards then host Marshall Friday at 7:30 p.m. “The girls have done a better job committing fewer turnovers the past couple of games and we are excited to get into the heart of conference play,” Fuchs said.