Central survives sectional scare
Greendale gives Lancers all they can handle in overtime
Brookfield's Jesse Thomas against Greendale's Kasandra Wysocki in Division 1 Regional Final play at home on Saturday, March 13. Photo By C.T. Kruger
On Saturday, the Brookfield Central girls basketball team might have panicked now and then, but the Lancers never collapsed.
They might have looked bad at times, but never to the point where they looked like they could not recover.
And they might have played the final three minutes without their leader, as in senior guard Erin Lueder, but the experience and calmness of others, particularly junior forward Valerie Rose Agnello, paid off.
In the end, behind Agnello's game-high 18 points, the Lancers survived a regional final scare by beating the Greendale Panthers, 50-41, in overtime at home and advanced to the sectional for the third straight season.
"With eight seniors on your team, you don't think you'll be back on your heels," Brookfield Central coach Dan Wandrey said. "It's not like we're defending anything. You've got to go out and get something, and we just didn't do that (Saturday).
"Bur our experience really helped. And we got a last push of desperation in the fourth quarter."
Agnello shines in fourth, OT
Agnello led that push. She scored 14 of her points after the third quarter, including 10 in the fourth and the first four of overtime, during which Brookfield Central (18-6) outscored Greendale, 9-0.
She scored on back-to-back possessions early in the fourth to help the Lancers take their first lead of the half at 31-29 with 5 minutes, 46 seconds remaining. Then, over the final minute, she put the Lancers on her back with Lueder on the bench with five fouls.
With 1:06 left, she scored a tough bucket in the paint to keep her team within one at 39-38. Greendale answered with a pair of free throws by Lauren Piotrowski (10 points), but Agnello answered with another basket inside, this time with 45 seconds left.
After an unforced turnover by Greendale - an over-and-back call on the point guard who was unguarded at the time - Agnello was fouled with 24 seconds left. She made one of two free throws to tie the score at 41-41.
Greendale (15-8) missed a pair of free throws with 12 seconds left and Brookfield Central turned the ball over on its last possession of regulation.
Agnello then kicked off the overtime period with four straight points - two free throws and an offensive putback of her own miss.
"For her - she's not a great free-throw shooter - to make four of six in the fourth quarter and overtime, that was huge," Wandrey said. "When Erin went out, I said to Val, 'It's your game to take over.' She has the ability to make plays in so many different ways. Obviously, she's mainly going to score around the basket, but her activeness - she gets her hand on the ball on defense, she gets rebounds, she gets offensive rebounds. She's made a living of that."
Greendale led by Merg
Unlike Agnello's effort in place of Lueder, who finished with 14 points, the Panthers did not have someone step up when senior guard Mary Merg fouled out with 1:53 remaining.
Greendale missed its final 10 shots of the game, including all seven in overtime. The Panthers' last made shot came from Merg, who drove the lane and put her team ahead, 37-36, with 2:33 left in the fourth quarter. Merg fouled out 40 seconds later and the Panthers managed to score just four points on four of eight free-throw shooting the rest of the way.
Merg finished with 16 points, five rebounds, three assists and three steals.
"It really helped when Mary Merg fouled out of the game because clearly we were not having a lot of success guarding her," Wandrey said.
Said Greendale coach Andrew Schroeder: "She's been doing that for us all season. She's been taking over when we need her. She's stepped up. She has that competitive edge where she doesn't want to lose and does whatever it takes."
Greendale turned the ball over 30 times, including 20 turnovers after halftime and four in overtime. The Panthers' most frustrating stretch came to start the third quarter. In their first 12 possessions, Greendale turned the ball over 10 times and shot an air ball. Still, Greendale played with the lead for most of the second half before folding late.
"It definitely helped that they have been in these situations before," Schroeder said of the Lancers. "Their experience definitely showed at the end of the game. There's always those free throws, those missed layups that you kick yourself for."
Brookfield Central shot three of 17 from the 3-point arc.
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