Sports Wrapups: Feb. 23

Franklin swimming

Sophomore Josh Lefeber's first trip to the WIAA State Swim Meet is in the books.

Lefeber swam 20th in the 200-yard individual medley in 2:02.35 and 22nd in the 100 breaststroke in 1:02.78 at the University of Wisconsin Natatorium in Madison on Saturday.

Franklin boys basketball

Another monster game by Nick Romanowski was not enough for the Sabers to get past visiting Kenosha Bradford on Friday.

Franklin lost, 75-73, in overtime despite the junior post player's 27 points on 8-of-16 shooting from the field to go along with nine rebounds, eight blocks, six assists and two steals.

Franklin rallied from a nine-point halftime deficit to tie the game in the fourth quarter, but Macon Plewa's mid-range jumper rimmed out at the end of regulation, as did Matt Krueger's 3-pointer late in overtime.

"We missed some key free throws down the stretch in regulation and overtime, but in my opinion, our poor first half was our biggest obstacle," Franklin coach Tim Hogan said. "A great final 20 minutes of basketball and very inconsistent for the first 16 minutes of the game."

In a 75-63 home loss to undefeated Racine Park three nights earlier, three Sabers reached double digits in points: Romanowski (18), Krueger (15) and Plewa (14).

Franklin also lost a 56-51 nonconference decision to Brookfield East on Monday in a game originally scheduled for Feb. 9. Romanowski had a game-high 22 and Krueger added 12.

Franklin (9-11, 6-7) finishes the regular season with a home game against Racine Horlick at 7:30 p.m. today. The Sabers then open the WIAA postseason as the eighth seed hosting ninth-seeded Muskego at 7 p.m. Tuesday. The two teams split their regular-season meetings.

Greendale girls basketball

Greendale ceded second place in the Woodland Conference Black Division to Wauwatosa West with a 38-36 home loss to the Trojans on Friday.

The Panthers got 17 points from Mary Merg and 13 from Lauren Piotrowski and made 12 of 15 free throws, but it was not enough against the defensive-minded Trojans, who improved to 11-4 in league games, one game better than the Panthers with two Woodland contests remaining for both squads.

It was the second time this season Greendale (12-6, 10-5) had its hands full against West; the Trojans beat the Panthers, 47-31, Dec. 15. West is the only team to hold Greendale below 40 points this season.

Oak Creek girls basketball

One month after snapping Muskego's 25-game Southeast Conference winning streak, the Knights were unable to make it a clean sweep of the Warriors.

Oak Creek (12-7, 6-6) was outscored by 10 points in the second half Friday and lost, 57-45, to conference-leading Muskego on Friday.

The Knights' Ashley Luke and Cydney Weisflog matched each other with 15 points each, but the Muskego tandem of Katie Ellerson (21) and Alyssa Colla (18) combined for 39, including five of the Warriors' six 3-pointers.

The Knights beat the Warriors, 47-43, on Jan. 19; Muskego has not lost a conference game since.

Franklin girls basketball

After his team beat Racine Case and Oak Creek earlier this month, Franklin coach Ron Kluth said the only team standing in the way of a regular-season ending six-game winning streak was Kenosha Bradford, primarily because of Katie Young.

Kluth hit it right on the head.

Visiting Bradford, led by Young's 24 points, snapped Franklin's modest three-game winning streak with a 64-56 victory Friday. Young's effort was nearly nine points better than her season average.

Bradford also got 16 points from Rachel Wendberg, one of five Red Devils to score seven or more.

Mariah Hill (11) and Jenna Coenen (10) combined for 21 points for the Sabers, who dipped to 11-9 overall, 7-5 conference.

Greendale boys basketball

The Panthers were unable to slow down a pair of Woodland Conference foes riding hot streaks.

The host Wauwatosa West Trojans, winners of six of their last seven games, outscored Greendale, 21-8, in the first quarter en route to a 65-57 victory Monday.

West's Ray Sterling tallied a game-high 24 points to help offset a balanced Greendale attack that included five players with six or more points led by Jacob Merk's 15.

Three nights earlier against the visiting South Milwaukee Rockets, winners of seven of their last eight, Greendale lost, 50-34, as no Panther scored more than seven points.

Greendale (5-15, 3-12) began this week with six straight losses. The Panthers are seeded 14th in its WIAA sectional and visit third-seeded Waterford at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Oak Creek boys basketball

If the Knights are to avoid a winless Southeast Conference season, they will have to pull off a gigantic upset at home today against undefeated Racine Park in both team's regular season finale.

Oak Creek (3-18, 0-13) missed two golden opportunities to pick up that elusive first win by losing to visiting Kenosha Tremper, 41-36, Feb. 16, and at Muskego, 50-37, Friday.

Nick Stout had a game-high 14 points Friday, and Tyler Zemla chipped in 10 for the Knights, who were outscored by the Warriors, 30-18, in the second half.

The 14th-seeded Knights visit third-seeded Milwaukee Washington at 7 p.m. Tuesday.

Whitnall girls basketball

Whitnall was overwhelmed by conference champion New Berlin Eisenhower, 50-17, on the road Saturday.

The Falcons (5-13, 5-10) made just six shots from the field and scored no more than five points in any quarter.

Eisenhower's Nicole Bauman scored a game-high 11 points.

In a 69-39 nonconference loss at Wisconsin Lutheran on Monday, Amy Ford and Rachel Niles scored seven points each for Whitnall, which lost its fifth straight game.

- David Cotey