CG-Belgium girls stop the bleeding

Eight was enough for the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ basketball team.

The Rockets on Monday halted an eight-game losing streak that dated back to Jan. 18 with a 75-63 win over Big East Conference opponent Sheboygan Christian on the road.

“They had fun. It was long overdue,” coach Mike Bikman, who goes by Coach Bik, said.

Four Rockets scored in double figures, led by Alexis Bahr’s 18 points. Tara Schmitz had 15, and Katelyn Morris and Sophie Beightol each had 10.

“Alexis played nice. Tara finally broke out of her scoring slump,” Bik said.

“We’re taking good shots. They’re starting to fall a little bit now.”

It was 42-23 at halftime.

“It could have been nicer. We just gave up too many points in the second half,” Bik said.

Sixteen Rockets got into the game against the one-win Eagles.

“It was nice to see some kids off the bench playing hard. Josie Horn took a nice charge. Jessica Sutryk took a big charge and fouled out their best player,” Bik said.

Mackenna Epping had 22 points and 13 rebounds for the Eagles. Maria Zylstra had 20 points and 11 steals.

The Rockets moved to 5-13 in the Big East and 7-15 overall.

Last Thursday, the Rockets lost to Sheboygan Lutheran (15-3), 70-52.

Alexis Bahr had 16 points, and Olivia Bahr and Aubrey Marti each had 11.

Addy Verhagen had 20 points for the Crusaders, and Rose Hahn had 16 points and nine rebounds. Alex Stricker had 14 points, and Faith Pape had three points and 13 rebounds.

The Crusaders held a 38-25 halftime lead.

On Feb. 8, the Rockets lost at Howards Grove (12-11), 55-45. They were down, 30-22, at halftime.

“It was a tough loss. We played hard, very physical,” Bik said.

Schmitz drained a trio of three-pointers to bring the Rockets to within three.

After that, Alexis Bahr had two offensive fouls called on her that Bik said would have turned into six points.

The Rockets were whistled for 11 fouls in the second half while the Tigers committed two fouls.

“Very frustrating,” Bik said.

Bahr had 14 points. Schmitz had nine, and Olivia Bahr had six.

Ellie Schueler led the Tigers with 19 points and seven rebounds. Rilee Reichwald had 11 points, eight rebounds and six assists.

The Rockets host Kohler (4-14 Big East) on Thursday for senior night. They earned a No. 9 seed in the Division 4 playoffs and play at No. 8-seeded Random Lake (7-11) at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The teams split the season series, with the Rockets losing, 60-34, on the road Dec. 2 and winning, 65-48, at home on Jan. 14.

The winner plays at No. 1-seeded Laconia (19-4) at 7 p.m. Friday.

Grafton loses a couple of clunkers

Last week wasn’t the best for the Grafton girls, who lost two games in a row for the first time this season and fell to fourth in the North Shore Conference.

On Feb. 8, the Black Hawks lost at West Bend East, 64-52.

“We got out-hustled. We didn’t shoot well, but we were only down three at halftime (23-20),” coach Matt D’Amato said.

In the second half, the Hawks found the shots they wanted but the ball didn’t locate the hoop.

“It was layups and free throws,” D’Amato said.

Ashley Weir had 12 points, three assists and four steals. Savannah James had 11 points, and Natalie Manuel had 10. Sarah Aleknavicius had six points, four rebounds, three assists and six steals.

Lainy Williams had 14 points for East. Candence Xiong and Sara Doedens each had 13.

Last Friday at home against Slinger, the Hawks lost, 64-42, as the Owls evened the season series and moved into third place in the NSC all by themselves.

Shooting was again an issue, along with the Owls’ intensity.

“Slinger just came out ready to go,” D’Amato said.

Weir was not 100%, and the Owls ran her through screen after screen to wear her down even more.

It was 30-18 at halftime.

Weir hit a three-pointer that cut the lead to 32-26 with 13 minutes to play, but the Owls answered with a three-pointer of their own. That theme continued as the Hawks tried to claw their way back into it.

“Every time we put together a little bit of a run, we’d give up an 8-0 run,” D’Amato said.

Grace McNabb had 10 points. Aleknavicius had nine. Ella Day had five points and 10 rebounds.

For Slinger, Mallory Hoitink had 24 points and Kacey Ott had 21.

The Hawks went to 11-5 in the NSC while Slinger improved to 12-4.

Grafton was to play at Homestead (16-1 NSC) on Tuesday and host Hartford (9-7) on Thursday.

The Hawks got a No. 4 seed in the Division 2 tournament and get another shot at West Bend East, a 5 seed, at home on Friday, Feb. 25.

The Hawks and Suns split the season series, with Grafton winning, 65-42, on Dec. 21.

“The girls really want to have a revenge game here and come back against East,” D’Amato said.

If the seeds hold, the winner plays at the No. 1-seeded Beaver Dam on Saturday, Feb. 26.

Port girls’ losing streak reaches seven

Port Washington lost two NSC games last week that sent the Pirates’ losing streak to seven.

On Feb. 8, Port lost at Whitefish Bay (9-8 NSC), 61-30. The Blue Dukes led, 26-13, at halftime.

Lillian Merow had 15 points and Paige Scheunemann had seven.

Cate Sullivan led the Blue Dukes with 17 points, and Allie Swetlik had 14.

Last Friday, Port lost at Hartford (10-7 NSC), 70-31.

Hartford was up, 40-17, at halftime.

Merow had seven points. Maggie Zirbes and Jenna Ollman each had six.

Makena Christian had 33 points for Hartford, and Kailyn Knudson had 14.

Port, 1-15 in the NSC and 3-18 overall, was to host Nicolet (1-15 NSC) on Tuesday and play at West Bend West (2-14) on Thursday.

Port got an 11 seed in the Division 2 tournament and plays at No. 6-seeded Milwaukee Vincent (4-9) on Tuesday, Feb. 22. The winner plays at No. 3-seeded Slinger (15-7) on Friday.