New year turnaround

The new year has provided two extremes for the Cedar Grove-Belgium High School girls’ basketball team.

After dropping their first three games, the Rockets pulverized their opponents in their last three.

Non-conference opponent Campbellsport was the latest victim in a 67-35 loss at home to the surging Rockets.

They took a 45-14 lead by halftime and cruised. Maddie Sutryk led the team with 16 points on 7-for-8 shooting, including making her only three-pointer. Elsie Felsinger scored 14 on 7-for-8 shooting and had a team-high eight rebounds. Alex Mentink scored 12 in going 6-for-9 from the field, and Shelby Cooney had eight in shooting 3-for-5.

The Rockets made 29 of 53 shots for 55%.

Morgan Fryman led the Cougars with 16.

Last Thursday, the Rockets dismantled Big East Conference opponent Elkhart Lake-Glenbeulah on the road, 69-39. Four scored in double figures, led by Felsinger’s 16 on 6-for-8 shooting. Mentink had 15 on 6-for-14 shooting, Alyssa Mentink had 13  (5-for-7) and Amy TenHaken 10 (4-for-6). Felsinger had eight rebounds and four assists, and Sutryk had seven rebounds.

The team shot 28-for-55 from the field (51%).

Alex Schneider had 13 for the Resorters.

On Jan. 15, the Rockets blew by non-conference foe Port Washington, 63-35, on the road. A 32-14 first-half edge put the game away.

Sutryk scored 14, and Felsinger had 13. Alex Mentink had nine. TenHaken scored eight. Alyssa Mentink scored six, and Anna Claerbaut had five.

“We’re getting some good scoring out of a lot of people,” coach Jason Jones said.

He said it was important to get those early leads.

“You don’t want to let them linger around and they catch you sleeping a little bit,” he said.

The offense, he said, has been aided by its counterpart.

“We’re getting a little better on defense, which is getting us some more turnovers, which is getting us down to the other end of the court and getting us scoring opportunities,” Jones said.

He praised the play of Shelby Cooney, who has been picking up more steals, and TenHaken for her work on defense.

The Rockets (5-6 in the Big East and 8-7 overall) host Random Lake (6-5 Big East) on Thursday, non-conference foe Grafton on Saturday and Big East opponent Hilbert (6-5) on Tuesday, Jan. 29.

Port Washington is still seeking its first victory after the loss to the Rockets and a 67-25 loss to Homestead last Friday.

Against the Rockets, Morgan Stone led the Pirates with nine points.

“They’re a solid team. We struggled more on the defensive end of the court, getting caught up in screens. Our help defense wasn’t enough,” coach Jakob Wahl said.

Against Homestead, senior Kaytlin Kassens led with eight points. Tiana Davis and Keelie Schumacher each scored six.

The Highlanders took a 31-10 halftime lead. McKenna Marotta led her team’s nine scorers with 21 points. The Highladers made 14 three-pointers.

“We got off to a good start like the last couple of games, but fatigue started to set in,” Wahl said.

The Pirates play well in the equivalent of the first quarter before they struggle in the next several minutes, he said.

The Pirates play at North Shore Conference leader Whitefish Bay (9-1) on Friday and host Nicolet (4-8) on Tuesday, Jan. 29.