Gerrard Diaz, gdiaz@shawanoleader.com
Leader Photo by Gerrard Diaz Gresham junior Riley Tejada looks for a shot against Wild Rose’s Ashley Mendoza during both teams’ regular season finale Thursday in Gresham. Gresham lost, 43-18.
The Gresham High School girls basketball team is down to one chance to avoid a winless season after losing to Central Wisconsin Conference-10 foe Wild Rose 43-18 Thursday in Gresham.
The Wildcats’ last chance will come Tuesday in the WIAA Division 5 regional tournament, where eighth-seeded Gresham (0-21, 0-17 CWC-10) will travel to top-seeded Marion to open the tournament.
“Obviously, it’s the last home game. You hate to go out that way,” Gresham coach Nick Yaeger said. “It’s been a long season for us. They need to stay positive; we still have one more game left.”
Gresham struggled to handle the ball Thursday, a problem for the team all season.
“That’s been a nemesis for us the whole year, pressure,” Yaeger said. “Obviously, if you can’t handle pressure, you’re not going to do really well. Ultimately, if you turn the ball over, you’re not shooting. If you can’t shoot, you can’t score. It hurts us.”
The Wildcats did not score more than seven points in any quarter and were shut out in the third period.
Gresham held Wild Rose (18-4, 15-3 CWC-10) to five points in the second quarter.
“They had some turnovers,” Yaeger said. “They’re one of the top teams in the conference. I felt like we were hanging tough down by 13 at the half. You hate to say it, but the last time we played them they scored 60-plus points.”
Senior Tylena Bohl and junior Riley Tejada scored five points each to lead Gresham.
Seniors Karina Marchan and Jasmine Hanson led Wild Rose with nine points each.
“We’re really young, that’s the good thing about this,” Yaeger said. “We’re only losing two seniors. We need to put some time in the summer. We need to have the ball in our hands. That’s the only way we get better.”
Bohl and Brittny Andrews are the only Gresham players that won’t be back next year.
Wild Rose (43)
Mendoza 0 4-6 4, K. Marchan 4 1-1 9, Shepard 2 2-2 7, Hanson 3 2-4 9, Schmidt 1 4-8 6, Stoll 0 2-2 2, B. Marchan 1 0-0 2, Dorsett 0 1-2 1, Schmidt 1 0-0 2, Dorsett 0 1-2 1
Gresham (18)
Bohl 2 0-0 5, Jensen 1 1-2 3, Andrews 0 2-2 2, Hoffman 1 0-0 2, Tejada 1 3-5 5, Ferguson 0 1-3 1
Wild Rose 19 5 11 8 — 43
Gresham 4 7 0 7 — 18