Gerrard Diaz, gdiaz@shawanoleader.com
Leader Photo by Gerrard Diaz Shawano Community High School guard Megan Klitzke advances the ball against West De Pere on Friday in Shawano.
The Shawano Community High School girls basketball team failed to hold off a West De Pere rally Friday night in Shawano, losing 30-28 to the Bay Conference foe.
The Hawks (4-12, 4-8 Bay) were just inches short on a final shot by junior Courtney Vomastic, who had come off the bench to score a team-high eight points in the second half. She hit a pair of three-pointers, the second of which came with 19.8 seconds left and tied the game at 28-28.
“We needed some scoring and some excitement,” Shawano coach Ryan Koenig said. “She came in and hit some big shots.”
On the next possession, Elizabeth Edinger, a 5-foot-4 freshman guard, hit a basket to reclaim the lead for West De Pere (7-8, 5-5 Bay).
Vomastic, a 5-10 forward, got off the final shot of the game, also from beyond the 3-point arc, in the final seconds, but it bounced off the rim to seal the West De Pere victory.
“She was hot and just barely missed it,” Koenig said. “I’ll take her shooting any day of the week. She’s the best shot on our team and I have no problem with that last shot.”
Megan Klitzke added seven points and six rebounds for the Hawks. Lindsey Kurtz scored three points and had six rebounds.
After both teams tied 9-9 in the first half, Shawano came out of halftime to build a 17-11 lead midway through the third quarter and had an eight-point lead by the start of the fourth.
“I thought the first half we were standing around, not moving too much,” Koenig said. “They’re playing a good man-to-man defense. You have to move around and set some screens. I thought we were lazy of the offensive end. I thought we came out in the second half sharper, looking for different things.”
Freshman Hannah Stefaniak led West De Pere with 14 points. Edinger finished with 12.
“We just had a lapse on defense for about a half a quarter there where we let them penetrate, which they didn’t do the whole game,” Koenig said. “All of a sudden they rattled off eight points and it’s a whole new ballgame. We’re improving, our defense is excellent, the girls are working hard and we’re putting it together at the right time.”
West De Pere (30)
Edinger 4 3-4 12, Timm 1 0-1 2, Stefaniak 6 2-2 14, Buck 1 0-0 2
Shawano (28)
Monfils 1 0-0 2, Megan Klitzke 3 1-2 7, K. Hokenstad 1 0-0 2, S. Hokenstad 2 0-0 4, Kurtz 0 3-7 3, Vomastic 3 0-0 8, Boda 0 2-2 2
West De Pere 5 4 6 15 — 30
Shawano 6 3 14 5 — 28