Falls Girls Overwhelm Homestead in Regional Opener

Menomonee Falls opened its season on Dec. 3 with a loss to Homestead.

The Indians have matured quite a bit in the last three months.

Alex Poole scored 20 points and grabbed nine rebounds while Rachel Defnet added 12 points with six rebounds to lead the host Indians to a 57-43 victory over the Highlanders Tuesday night in the opening round of the WIAA Division 1 girls basketball tournament. Falls, which improved to 12-11, plays at Kettle Moraine Saturday.  Homestead finished its season at 6-17.

The victory over Homestead was a continuation of the fine basketball that the Indians have played in 2011. Falls finished up 2010 with three consecutive losses, but has won nine of 15 games in 2011.

Poole credits the team’s improved play to better chemistry. “We’ve really bonded together as a team,” said Poole, a junior. “This team is really united.”

While the Indians have had their ups and down on offense this season, Falls coach Craig Amundson said a greater commitment to playing man-to-man defense has paid dividends.

 “Our perimeter defense was really good tonight,”  Amundson said. “I also thought we did a good job of defending (Sienna) Mitman. She’s a good player.” Mitman, a senior, scored 21 points to lead Homestead but scored the bulk of her points when the game was out of hand.

Falls took command in the second quarter.  It outscored the Highlanders 12-3 in the second period and held a 24-9 halftime lead. Falls outscored Homestead 10-0 to open the third period to hold a 34-9 lead with five minutes left in the third period.

But Amundson was even more impressed with the way his team finished the game.

“I thought we did a good job of taking care of the ball,” Amundson said.  “We’re doing a better job of understanding the time and the score. In the fourth quarter, we did a good job of running off the time and taking the shots we wanted to take.”

The victory was the Indians' first in the WIAA tournament in three seasons.

 “We were really excited to win a playoff game at home,” Amundson said. “But the previous years are behind us. We’ve been really competitive this year.”

Homestead tried to rattle the Indians early with a combination of full-court pressure and half-court traps. But the team’s starting guards, Amber Bullock and Mikayla Robertson, were unfazed by Homestead’s defensive maneuvers.

 “We did a good job of taking care of the ball tonight,” Amundson said. “The number of turnovers we had tonight was acceptable.”

Homestead:                 6--3-15-19—43
Menomonee Falls:  12-12-14-19—57

Homestead: Cullen 1 2-2 4, Young 7 0-0 16, Mitman 8 5-8 21, Behnken 0 0-1 0, LaDell 1 0-0 2. Totals 17 7-11 43.

Menomonee Falls:  Robertson 4 0-0 8, McKelvin 1 0-0 2, Defnet 5 2-2 12, Bullock 0 2-2 2, Poole 8 4-6 20, M. Carlson 1 0-0 2, J. Carlson 1 0-0 2, Crownover 4 1-2 9. Totals 24 9-12 57.

Three-point baskets:  Homestead – Young (2).   Total fouls:  Homestead 13, Menomonee Falls 13. Fouled out:  Mitman.