Gerrard Diaz, gdiaz@shawanoleader.com
Leader Photo by Gerrard Diaz Shawano Community High School sophomore Megan Klitzke passes the ball during Tuesday’s game against Mosinee in Shawano. Klitzke had 11 points for the Hawks, who lost 56-48.
By the time the young Shawano Community High School girls basketball team had adjusted to the speed of the varsity game and shaken off the offseason rust, it was too late.
The Hawks fell behind 37-20 in Tuesday’s season opener against nonconference Mosinee (3-1), and then rallied but came up short in the 56-48 loss.
“It was a good first game,” Shawano coach Ryan Koenig said. “Obviously, it was Mosinee’s fourth and it showed in the first half. There’s no way our defense should give up 37 points in the first half.”
Dealing with turnover and rebounding issues, Shawano allowed the combination of Mosinee senior Julie Kijak, with seven first-quarter points, and junior Rochelle Koshalek, who had a pair of 3s in the period, to build an 18-8 lead.
Shawano’s scorers didn’t get hot until the second half, when the team played with more energy both on offense and defense.
“In the second half, we shut them down to 19 (points),” Koenig said. “That’s where we want to be. We want to allow about 30 to 40 points a game.”
Megan Klitzke, a 5-foot-8 sophomore guard, got eight of her team-high 10 points in the second half. Kayla Hokenstad, a 5-foot-9 senior forward, had six of her nine points after the halftime break.
Shawano also made seven of eight free throws in the fourth quarter while cutting a 19-point deficit to single digits.
“The girls gave great effort,” Koenig said. “All of them. We have to do better adjusting on the fly.”
The coach said his young team, which has three sophomore starters in Klitzke, Sara Hokenstad and Erika Dunnam, also had too many turnovers.
“We have to be 15 or less, that’s the goal every game,” Koenig said. “We have to take care of the ball. We’re young and we’re learning. The goal is improvement. The first half to the second half, that was a heck of an improvement, and we have to carry that into Hortonville on Thursday.”
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Mosinee (56)
Shultz 3 5-6 11, Koshalek 5 4-4 18, Zuelke 3 0-0 6, Michlig 4 1-2 10, Kijak 4 1-3 9, Voight 0 2-2 2
Shawano (48)
Megan Klitzke 3 3-4 10, K. Hokenstad 3 3-4 9, S. Hokenstad 2 1-2 5, Kurtz 3 0-0 6, Dunnam 1 0-0 2, Boda 1 2-4 4, Monfils 1 2-2 4, Morgan Klitzke 1 4-4 6, Vomastic 1 0-0 2
Mosinee 18 19 8 11 — 56
Shawano 8 12 15 13 — 48