Sports Wrapups: Feb. 7

Whitefish Bay wrestling

Nick Levings won the 182-pound class as the Blue Dukes took third in the North Shore Conference Tournament on Saturday.

"He's a senior and he's put in so much time working on his body," Bay coach Dale Loebel said. "He's lifted and he's ran. He really put himself together, and he's finally got some confidence. He was the number one seed, he acted like it and he earned the title."

Levings and the rest of the Blue Dukes head to the WIAA regional at Nicolet at 10:30 a.m. Saturday. The first four finishers in each weight class advance to the sectional at Arrowhead on Feb. 18.

Bay scored 166.5 points for its spot as Port defended its crown with 295.5 points.

Levings (20-9 overall) pinned Homestead (1:45) and Germantown (5:41) opponents before beating a Nicolet foe, 8-5, in the final.

Earning seconds for the Blue Dukes were Max Carlin at 106 (32-7), Joey Davey at 113 (20-8), and Andrew Reidy at 145 (19-12). Claiming thirds were Miquel Gomez at 120 (8-7), Ben Lehrmann at 138 (27-11), and Rashadeem Gray at 152 (30-11).

"We wrestled pretty well," Loebel said. "We had some disappointments but some nice surprises, too, like Miquel (Gomez) taking third. I told the kids heading into this week, we'll have no negative thoughts. We'll fix the issues that we have and then move on."

Whitefish Bay girls basketball

The Blue Dukes stayed one game behind Nicolet in the North Shore standings at 9-1 and 15-1 overall with wins over Milwaukee Lutheran (46-20) and Cedarburg (49-39) last week.

They had a challenging nonconference game with DSHA on Tuesday and then will be at Port Washington on Friday.

Blue Dukes coach Greg Capper is pleased with the emotional balance his team is showing.

"Every game teams are throwing different stuff at us," he said. 'So far the kids are responding and that's something special."

The win over Lutheran on Feb. 2 was sound, said Capper.

"We got off to a quick start to the game and to the second half and that really helped us," he said. "We had some nice consistency to our halfcourt attack."

Maya Jonas had 11 points for Bay while Lindsey Agnew contributed nine and Ava Stock and Elisabeth Johnston contributed eight apiece.

The Cedarburg win was much tougher on Jan. 31, as for the first time since the Nicolet loss, Bay found itself down 28-24 at the break.

"Two things had to happen after that," Capper said. "One was that we needed to get stops and two we needed to show patience and poise on offense. We managed to do both."

Bay outscored Cedarburg 25-11 in the second half to pull away for the win as Jonas had 20 points, Agnew 15 and Johnston 12.

Whitefish Bay boys basketball

The Blue Dukes kept pace in the North Shore with harrowing wins over Cedarburg (49-43 in overtime) on Jan. 31 and Milwaukee Lutheran (59-51) on Friday.

"We were still working on that hangover (a bad loss to undefeated league leader Germantown the week before)," Blue Dukes coach Kevin Lazovik said. "It wasn't easy, but I was glad that we responded the way we did."

Bay (7-3, 12-5) looks to keep that momentum when it hosts Port Washington on Friday and then will be at Grafton on Tuesday.

Against Lutheran, Bay trailed 42-41 going into the fourth quarter and still down two with four minutes to go, but then the Blue Dukes got a few stops and put the ball into the hands of guard Kelin Johnson. Johnson hit 14 of 16 free throws on the night en route to a game high 22 points.

"We did a better job communicating and getting out on their shooters," Lazovik said, "and Kelin just had a very nice game." Connor Weas had 11 and Joe Sherburne 10.

Cedarburg outscored Bay 11-6 in the fourth to force overtime at 39-39. The tying points came on a fadeaway 26-foot 3-pointer.

But the Blue Dukes scored first in the overtime and then were able to hold on from there.

"Joe Sherburne did a nice job defensively and got some clutch rebounds," Lazovik said.

Weas led Bay with 21 while Johnson had 10 and Sherburne eight.

Nicolet wrestling

Whatever doesn't kill you makes you stronger.

Don't tempt Knights coach Gus Kaufmann with that thought as his team reeled from the fact that returning 220-pound state qualifier Jon McKay was lost for the season with a broken ankle in practice last week.

"It was just a nothing little maneuver in practice," Kaufmann said, "He just stepped a little funny and it snapped. It just deflated us for the conference meet. I was so depressed."

Without McKay, the Knights struggled to take seventh with 84 points in the league tournament Saturday. They host WIAA regional action at 10:30 a.m. Saturday.

Keondre Walton-Cooper took second at 182 (22-11) to lead the Knights, as he beat Cedarburg (pin) and Port (decision) wrestlers before falling to a Bay opponent, 8-5, in the final.

Jake Kalloch at 106 pounds took third (17-14) as did Nate Patton at 285 (14-17) to lead the way. Patton was particularly inspired, Kaufmann said, as he recorded three pins. Both wrestlers went 3-1 on the day.

Dan Isaacson took a fourth for Nicolet at 132 (17-16).

The Knights' second best wrestler, Wilhelm Fehlhaber, was also not available because of illness.

"Jon (McKay) and I shed some tears and we all wanted to say 'Why me?' " Kaufmann said, "but he knew how hard the rest of the team was working, so he's working hard to support the rest of the guys."

Brown Deer/University School swim

The Falcons were sixth in the Woodland Conference meet on Saturday and now look forward to WIAA Division 2 sectional competition at Cedarburg at noon Saturday.

The winner of each event plus all those whose efforts are among the next 12 best of all sectionals statewide, advance to the state meet in Madison on Feb. 17.

"We'll get the kids shaved and tapered and try to get them into a good mind set," coach Bob Van Lieshout said. "They're in good shape physically. Now we have to get them emotionally ready."

BD/USM scored 175 points for its spot as Greenfield/Greendale edged Shorewood 453-452.5 for the title in the Woodland.

Top 10 places by event for the Falcons included the following: diving: Gerry Gilles, eighth (277.65 points); 200 free: Billy Wong, fifth (1:54.22); 100 butterfly: Josh Thompson, ninth (1:03.32); 100 free: Stephen Grambow, fourth (51.35); 200 free relay: Thompson, Berj Balzonian, Matt Myszewski and Adam Brostowicz, seventh (1:41.78); 100 backstroke: Grambow, fifth (58.27); 100 breast stroke: Wong, fifth (1:05.84); Balzonian, ninth (1:10.07); and 400 free relay: Grambow, Thompson, Balzonian, and Wong, fourth (3:34.46).

Brown Deer and Shorewood boys basketball

The Falcons got back at the short-handed Greyhounds for an earlier defeat with a 65-55 decision on Jan. 31.

Brown Deer (9-5 in conference and 12-6 overall) took on Pewaukee on Tuesday and then host St. Thomas More on Tuesday.

The Falcons held a narrow lead on the Greyhounds for most of the game (27-22 at the half and 46-42 heading into the fourth quarter) before a 19-13 effort in the fourth gave them some breathing room.

Jamon Jackson-Wilson had 21 points for Brown Deer while D'Sean Groce and Taiwo Amusa had nine each and Donald Harmon and Trayvon Palmer had eight apiece.

Donavan Freeman led Brown Deer with 21.

Homestead wrestling

Try as they may have, the Highlanders just could not find the winner's circle Saturday at the North Shore championships, settling for three individual runner-up slots and a fourth-place team finish.

Homestead will be at the WIAA Sussex Hamilton regional at 10:30 a.m. Saturday with qualifiers heading to the WIAA sectional at Arrowhead on Feb. 18.

In the conference tourney, Homestead scored 156 points for its spot.

Earning the second-place finishes were Zach Price at 126 (17-13), Nick Pierret at 170 (21-6) and Antoine Easterling at 195 (19-14).

Thirds went to Mensah Amuzu at 220 (21-10), Will Bomchill at 160 (22-16), Jake Mueller at 132 (17-13) and Josh Ference at 113 (17-12).

Brown Deer and Shorewood girls basketball

The Falcons avenged an earlier season loss, when they put the defensive clamps down on Shorewood, 34-24, on Jan. 31.

"We defended fairly well and kept them from shooting the lights out, which is what they did the first time around against us," Falcons coach Steve Reinhardt said. "It was pretty much a complete game for us."

Brown Deer (4-10 in conference and 6-11 overall) outscored Shorewood in every quarter going ahead 25-18 into the fourth quarter.

Jasalyn Lee had 13 points for Brown Deer while Sabrina Wimmer had 11. Margaret O'Brien led Shorewood with 10 while Johnna Odom had eight.

Reinhardt couldn't say enough about the effort of Allison Laurent who played hard despite taking a hard shot to the nose early in the game.

" 'I'm back in as soon as it stops bleeding coach,' she said," Reinhardt said. "She was a warrior."

Shorewood boys basketball

Suspensions, illness and even more injury couldn't slow down the Greyhounds, as they took a 44-28 halftime lead and then cruised to an 85-66 nonconference win over Milwaukee Languages on Friday.

"We were still short some kids due to suspension and then we found out that Donovan Freeman couldn't go because of a hip injury," coach Phil Jones said, "but as they have most of the season, our perimeter kids did step up."

The Greyhounds (5-8 in Woodland and 9-8 overall) took on St. Francis on Tuesday and then host St. Thomas More on Friday. Shorewood should be at full-strength soon.

Against School of Languages, Aaron Bailey had 20 points, while Kejuan Glosson had 19 and recent varsity call-up Patrick Roder 18.

Jones also liked the play of Charles Organ.

WNS/Whitefish Bay and Homestead hockey

The North Shore Conference champion Highlanders earned the top seed in its WIAA sectional. They got a first-round bye and host the winner of the Germantown co-op and Sheboygan South in a WIAA regional final on Feb. 16 at the Ozaukee Ice Center.

The WNS co-op is the fifth seed in its sectional and visits Janesville in a 7 p.m. regional final on Feb. 16. Sectional semifinals are slated for Feb. 21. Both sectional finals are scheduled for Feb. 25 on Bay's home ice Wilson Park in Milwaukee.

- Steven L. Tietz