Tough week ends with win

The early season schedule due to Covid-19 has not been kind to the Ozaukee High School girls’ basketball team.

After facing two top teams in three of their last four games, the Warriors salvaged last week with a 67-58 home win over Sheboygan Lutheran last Friday.

The team, coach Jason Pollard said, “came out with a level of energy and intensity that they had not shown in the previous games.”

Junior Gabby Klas scored a career-high 32 points on 11-for-21 shooting, and Natalie Miller made an instant impact in her first start.

“She got some steals and deflections that led to fast breaks for herself and her teammates to help us build a lead early on,” Pollard said.

“She uses her quickness and size to her advantage. She was like a sparkplug for our team during this game.”

Miller had 15 points, 15 rebounds, six assists and four steals.

Caitlyn Weyker has 11 points and seven rebounds, and Cami Miller had eight rebounds and five points.

“I think our senior, Cami, took a step further making some plays on both ends of the court — plays our staff knew she could make, but had not seen much in the beginning of this season,” Pollard said.

“For the past few games, we have had several players close to, or scoring, in the double digits in each game and have done a great job spreading the ball.”

The Warriors jumped out to a 42-23 lead by halftime and hung on.

Crusader Anna Splittberger led her team with 18 points on six three-pointers. Faith Pape had 15 rebounds and 14 points.

The three games before that didn’t go as well.

After losing to defending Big East Conference champion Oostburg, 64-32, on Dec. 3, the Rockets faced them again on Dec. 7 and lost, 82-45.

A day later, the Warriors followed that with a road game at another Big East powerhouse, St. Mary Catholic, and lost, 86-63.

In the second game against Oostburg,  the Warriors trailed, 47-21, at the break as the Lady Dutch cruised to the win.

Klas led the team with 12 points. Natalie Miller had 10 points and five steals, and Weyker had eight points.

Oostburg’s Ella Ten Pas led four Lady Dutch in double figures with 19 points.

Ozaukee lost more than the game. Junior guard Sophie Uhlenberg injured a finger and may be out for a while.

At St. Mary Catholic, Natalie Miller picked up more playing time and took advantage, scoring a team-high 20 points on 8-for-14 shooting, and she grabbed six rebounds and made four steals.

Klas had 19 points and six rebounds. Cami Miller had 13 rebounds, and Weyker had nine.

Zephyr Chloe Vogel scored 34 points, including 10 of 14 free throws, and Jaydin Vosters scored 24 points and had 10 rebounds.

“I knew this was going to be a challenging portion of our schedule and a chance for our team to either show or build some character,” Pollard said.

The Warriors, 3-3, were scheduled to play at Kohler Tuesday. Their Friday game against Cedar Grove-Belgium was postponed due to Covid-19 on the Rockets’ side. On Tuesday, Dec. 22, Ozaukee plays at Random Lake.