By Josh Staloch
Correspondent
GREEN BAY – A wire-to-wire performance by the Green Bay Southwest girls’ basketball team saw the Trojans defeat Ashwaubenon 49-38 Feb. 28 in a WIAA Division 2 regional game at Southwest High School.
“Our shooters were shooting well tonight,” said Southwest head coach Berri West. “Our offense is an attacking offense, so I’m happy with how the girls did.”
The No. 3-seeded Trojans advanced to play No. 2 Pulaski tonight, Feb. 29, at Pulaski High School in the regional final.
Southwest’s Caitlyn Thiel (11 points) got the evening’s scoring started by draining a three-pointer before Jaddan Simmons scored underneath, the first two of her game-high 16-points, making it 5-0.
Lydia Schable, who led the Jaguars with 14 points, scored her team’s first six points, closing the gap to 8-6.
Schable, who was extremely active early in the game, pulled down an offensive board a couple of possessions later for another score.
Teammate Crystal Kunesh gave the Jaguars their first lead of the night, 13-11, with a three-point shot.
The Trojans reclaimed the lead with a highlight-reel play from Jazzy Jackson, who ended with nine points.
Jackson forced an Ashwaubenon turnover and then assisted on another three-pointer from Thiel.
Southwest closed the first half with 23-17 lead thanks to a McFerrin three-pointer after an Ashwaubenon turnover.
Southwest’s Simmons, the Green Bay Metro area’s all-time leading scorer, had a quiet first half, but she got off to a hot start in the second half, scoring right away to push her team’s advantage to 27-19.
Simmons went coast-to-coast a few possessions later for another bucket and then notched an assist to Jackson halfway through the second half for a 35-21 advantage, forcing and Ashwaubenon timeout.
“She’s a true leader,” West said about Simmons. “When she’s scoring, she’s bringing huge energy and telling her teammates we need a stop on defense. When she’s on, the crowd gets into it. She brings a whole different energy to the game.”
The Jaguars never recovered from the 10-minute surge of offense the Trojans opened the second half with.
Rylie Severson got the deficit back to single digits with a three-pointer to make it 37-28.
Southwest and Pulaski, who defeated Menasha 44-33 in its game, will play for the third time this season.
“We played Pulaski recently and got hammered,” said West of her team’s 64-35 loss to the Red Raiders in late January. “That makes us hungry. The Fox River Classic Conference prepares you for the playoffs. It’s a tough conference – we battle each other all season long.”
Other area results
In other area Division 1 regional games Feb. 28, Bay Port defeated D.C. Everest 62-24, Green Bay Preble beat Wisconsin Rapids Lutheran 54-34 and De Pere lost at Stevens Point, 65-58.
In Division 2 action, Notre Dame Academy thumped Fox Valley Lutheran, 70-29.
To read about West De Pere’s 89-70 victory over Kaukauna, CLICK HERE.
In Division 5, Green Bay N.E.W. Lutheran beat Sheboygan Christian, 49-36.
To view the postseason brackets, CLICK HERE.