Parker girls beat Muskego to advance
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JANESVILLE—Janesville Parker was in danger of going the entire third quarter Friday night without a made bucket.
Senior Paige Smith put an end to that possibility, and her 3-pointer in the final seconds of the quarter was enough for the Vikings to stem the tide.
Smith scored a game-high 24 points, and Parker took advantage of 29 trips to the free-throw line in a 53-38 victory over visiting Muskego in a WIAA Division 1 regional semifinal.
The fourth-seeeded Vikings will host 12th-seeded Madison Memorial in a regional final at 7 o'clock tonight. The Spartans went on the road to beat Kenosha Tremper 45-33 on Friday.
“It was good to win the first game. We played as a team and finished strong,” said Smith, who had a dozen points each half and went 10-for-12 from the stripe. “That 3-pointer gave us a little excitement to get back at it in the fourth quarter.”
The Vikings were in cruise control for much of the first half.
Smith had 10 points in the first quarter to build an eight-point lead. Fellow senior Kathryn Dubanowich had seven of her 16 in the second quarter, and the Vikings led by 11 points at halftime.
“It was the seniors coming through, which is nice to see,” Parker coach Tom Klawitter said. “(Muskego) is a tough team, and they're going to be really good in the future.”
The Warriors, who list just two seniors on the roster and rely heavily on underclassmen, struggled with the foul situation all night. They were whistled 22 times to Parker's 14, and the Vikings won despite just four second-half field goals.
But Muskego made a third-quarter run that gave Parker a scare. Vicki Jansen's 3-pointer with 1:18 remaining cut it to 37-30, and Jansen hit a floater on the next possession to get within five.
But Smith buried her tide-turning 3-pointer with less than 10 seconds left to find a little comfort.
“That was huge,” Klawitter said. “And then I was really proud of the girls for the man-to-man defense they played in the fourth quarter. We just really couldn't find anyone to screen out there for a while, and they were getting all the loose balls.”
The Vikings allowed just six points in the final eight minutes to salt the game away.
Freshman Madyson Harrison led Muskego with 13 points before fouling out, and Mikaela Zolecki added 10.
The Vikings immediately shifted their attention to the Big Eight rival Spartans. Parker won both regular season meetings between the teams, including a 36-35 victory on Feb. 19.
“That's exciting,” Smith said. “And we know what they do, so we know how to play against them.”
PARKER 53, MUSKEGO 38
Muskego (38)—Mlachnik 0-1-1, Schulte 0-1-1, L. Bolskar 2-0-4, Jansen 3-0-7, Dooley 0-2-2, Harrison 5-2-13, Kath 4-2-10. Totals: 14-8-38.
Parker (53)—Porter 0-7-7, Smith 6-10-24, Foster 1-1-3, Ka. Dubanowich 6-2-16, Thompson 1-1-3. Totals: 14-21-53.
Muskego 11 8 13 6—38
Janesville Parker 19 11 10 13—53
Three-point goals—Muskego 2 (Harrison, Jansen), Parker 4 (Smith 2, Dubanowich 2). Free throws missed—Muskego 8, Parker 8. Total fouls—Muskego 22, Parker 14. Fouled out—Harrison.