By Dan Truttschel – Sports Correspondent
A slow start was exactly what Westosha Central girls basketball coach Brian Lussier hoped to avoid when his team traveled to Stoughton for a WIAA Division 2 regional opener last week.
But that’s exactly what happened – and the Falcons never could recover.
Stoughton jumped out to an 8-0 lead and never looked back in a convincing 64-37 victory. The loss ended the Falcons’ season at 6-17 overall, while Stoughton advanced to a regional semifinal Friday night.
Milton ended Stoughton’s season in that contest with a 68-55 victory.
Central never could get on track offensively, Lussier said.
“I think the long bus ride gave us some lag and we never recovered,” he said.
Stoughton led 16-7 at the end of the first quarter and took a 27-17 lead into halftime. The Vikings iced the win in the third, as they outscored Central 19-7.
Just three Falcons scored in the contest, led by senior Abbie Reeves, who poured in a game-high 29 points.
“Abbie played well and did a good job attacking the rim and getting to the foul line,” Lussier said.
Megan Ziesmann added five, while Hayden Krueger had three.
Stoughton’s Tessa Mersberger led her team with 26 points.
“We talked and worked on trying to stop their best player (Mersberger), but she was able to get open and hit a lot of shots for them,” Lussier said.
The loss ended the playing careers of Central seniors Reeves, Krueger and Lauren Zietsma.
Results of All-Southern Lakes Conference voting and a statistical wrap up will run in a future edition.