Posted: Jan. 10, 2010 |(0) Comments

Nicolet — Germantown girls basketball coach Matt Stuve likes watching North Shore rival Nicolet play.

But after witnessing the visiting Knights 68-52 handling of his Warhawks last Friday night, an effort that was facilitated by a 25-10 explosion in the first quarter, he would like to observe them now only from a safe distance.

"They bring a lot of fans, they bring a lot of talent," Stuve said, after his Warhawks dropped their second game in a week after starting 8-0. "People will always get their money's worth from them, because they have ability. … That starting five is as talented as any we'll see. You take away one option and then they'll bring four others at you."

That much was evident. The Warhawks got an impressive school record 29 points from center Eliza Wortman, but the Knights countered with balance, as Brittney Fair had 18, Ashley Green 16, Alex Cohen 13 and Gaby Bronson nine.

The Knights, the defending league co-champs with Grafton last season, continued their strong effort to lockdown control of the North Shore with their second win in a week after an impressive three-game sweep in the KSA Tournament in Orlando over the holiday. Nicolet, which also buried Homestead by a 58-39 count on Jan. 5, is now 5-0 in conference and 10-1 overall.

Team remains focused

Making sure there was no hangover from the trip to the Disney World complex was a high priority said the sophomore guard Fair.

"It was very important that we come out and play well this week," she said. "We played well against teams we didn't know (in Florida), but we knew when we got back home that good competition would be coming at us in conference. We had to keep up the intensity."

And Knights coach Corey Wolf, whose team is looking for its fourth conference title in seven years, liked the intensity she saw right out of the gate in beating the Warhawks at their own high-pressure, fast-breaking game.

"We want to be the ones to set the tempo," she said, "and we did a pretty good job of getting out on the break and attacking. We really moved the ball well. We were able to get a lot of good looks because we have a lot of kids who can handle the ball and get it to the open person."

That much was crystal clear in the first quarter, as after Wortman hit a baseline jumper to open the scoring and give Germantown its only lead of the night, Nicolet scored 13 of the next 15 points. Fair had seven of those points, including a 3-pointer from the baseline.

Wortman hit a jumper to cut the margin to seven, but a 6-0 run including two hoops by Cohen ran the lead back up to 19-6 and despite Cohen sitting the entire second quarter with two fouls, the Warhawks were never able to get inside of 10 in the first half after that point. Nicolet hit 10 of 20 field goal attempts in the first quarter.

"We gave them a lot of shots in the lane and a lot of nice right-handed shots, too," said Stuve. "It's so hard to come back from a double digit deficit, especially against as good a team as they are. We put a lot of energy into a couple of runs, but we didn't quite have enough."

Wortman keeps it close

But the Warhawks did have enough Wortman to make it interesting in the fourth quarter.

After trailing 54-35 going into the quarter, Germantown went into scramble mode, trying to force turnovers and get easy baskets. The strategy worked up to a point, as Wortman, who scored the team's last nine points, banked in a 3-pointer with 1:56 left to make it 59-50, the first time the margin had been in single digits since the opening quarter.

But the Knights, who hit 10 of 18 free throws in the final period, immediately countered as Fair broke the press, got to the hoop for a layup and was fouled. She cashed in the free throw to push the lead back to 62-50 and Nicolet carried a double-digit advantage right through to the finish line.

"Germantown had a lot of fight in it," said Wolf. "… You could tell that they had some players who had been in some big AAU games (in the summer). They really didn't get flustered."

Melissa Klemm was the only other Warhawk in double figures with 12.

Stuve was impressed with the effort, especially that of Wortman.

"She likes the bright lights and competing against the best," he said.

But so do the Knights.

"When we get out and fast-break, it's easier for us to get ahead by a big margin," Fair said. "It's easier for us to get into a flow and find the open player."

Knights schedule

UP NEXT: After five games in a two-week time period, the Knights will quiet down for a moment, with two one-game weeks in succession. They will visit Milwaukee Lutheran (2-5) at 7:30 p.m. Jan. 14 for their only action this week.

QUOTE: "Homestead gave us a different look," Coach Corey Wolf said, "and they prepared us well for this game (Germantown). We want to control our own destiny, and we did a good job of handling that this week."