Heights girls fall to Lakeside

They battled. They fought. In the end, though, the hole was simple too big to escape. Wisconsin Heights’ girls basketball team dug itself a 15-point halftime deficit on Nov. 26, rallied back, but eventually fell to host Lakeside Lutheran, 47-41. “We’ve been doing a nice job pressuring the ball in the full court even half court sets, but continue to struggle with taking care of the basketball,” Heights coach Bill Sullivan said. “When we struggle offensively, each possession is very valuable and we need to start converting them into points instead of turnovers.” Natalie Hering led the Vanguards with 12 points and Kelsie Handel added eight points. The Vanguards fell to 1-2 on the year. Lakeside jumped to a 9-3 lead in the first 10 minutes as the Vanguards struggled to take care of the ball. At halftime, Heights trailed, 27-12. “We played pretty solid defense in the first half, but just could not get out of our own way with turnovers and missed opportunities,” Sullivan said. The Vanguards chipped away, though. Heights pulled within 42-33 with 2 ½ minutes left and closed within three with 57 seconds remaining. But Heights simply couldn’t get over the proverbial hump. “We came out with good energy (in the second half) and worked our way back into the game,” Sullivan said. “We did a nice job with breaking the press as well as pressuring the ball late in the game. We got turnovers that we took advantage of down the stretch, but ran out of time.” • On deck: Heights hosts Johnson Creek Thursday at 7:30 p.m., then travels to Platteville Dec. 10 at 7:30 p.m. Nov. 26 LAKESIDE LUTHERAN 47, WISCONSIN HEIGHTS 41 Heights .......................... 12 29 — 41 Lakeside Lutheran ....... 27 20 — 47 WIS. HEIGHTS — Wood 2 2-4 6, King 3 0-0 6, Doherty 1 0-1 2, Adler 1 1-2 3, Keith 2 0-0 4, Handel 3 2-2 8, Hering 4 2-4 12. Totals 16 7-14 41. LAKESIDE LUTHERAN — Slonaker 3 1-2 7, Gnabasik 0 1-2 1, Schuetz 2 1-9 5, Uecker 1 3-5 6, Thiele 2 0-0 4, Liddicoat 1 1-2 4, Riesen 3 0-0 6, Raymond 1 0-0 3, Murray 4 3-6 11. Totals 17 10-26 47. 3-point goals: WH 2 (Hering 2); LL 3 (Uecker 1, Liddicoat 1, Raymond 1). Total fouls: WH 23; LL 20. Fouled out: Adler, Handel.