Heights girls thrilled to be back

They’re baaacccckkkk — and boy are they happy about it. The Wisconsin Heights School Board recently approved the return of winter sports, with all games to be played outside of Dane County. And the Vanguards got started last week by splitting their two games. Heights won its season-opener, 44-40, at Cambridge on Jan. 5. The Vanguards then fell to Marshall — the second-ranked team in Division 4 — 71-29 at JustAGame Field House in Wisconsin Dells on Jan. 8. “The team was excited to get back on the floor,” Heights coach Bill Sullivan said. “It was good to see the kids get the opportunity to have an extra-curricular activity, for us to get going and for the seniors and players to have a season, even though it is shortened. We have to be grateful that we are even playing, continue to grow and enjoy the season, as we know we can be shut down at any time.” The Vanguards began practicing on Nov. 16, had two practices, then were shut down until Dec. 16 due to Dane County guidelines. When the Board recently gave Heights the green light to have a season, elation poured through the program. Sullivan has already scheduled 12 of a possible 24 games, with nine being conference games and three contests outside the league. With the postseason set to begin on Feb. 9, Sullivan knows time is of the essence. “Our goal is to finish in the upper half of the conference and getting the players in game condition leading up to the regionals,” Sullivan said. Seniors Hana King, Sydnee Duhr and Kaya Teela, along with juniors Ashley Mickelson, Daryn Schaefer, Natalie Bartel and Kylee Doherty are expected to be the Vanguards’ leaders this season. “We are looking for these returning players to provide leadership and work on individual as well as team skills to get better throughout the season,” Sullivan said. “We will need to communicate as a team to play solid defense and look to become a better outside shooting team to open up the floor.” In Heights’ win over Cambridge, Keera Payne and Ashley Mickelson led the way with nine points, and Hana King added eight points. Defensively, the Vanguards held the Bluejays to 18% shooting for the game.  Heights trailed, 27-24, at halftime, but held Cambridge to 13 second half points and came away with its first win of the season. “We shared the ball well and everyone got involved in the offense,” Sullivan said. “We were the last team to start playing in our conference and so we are two games into a season where some teams have 10-plus games in already.” Heights then faced a terrific Marshall team and was routed last Friday. Duhr and Bartel led the Vanguards with six points each.  “We struggled all night with Marshall’s pressure,” Sullivan said. “They are long and aggressive on defense using a 1-2-2 trap to create turnovers. When we found the open person, we had success shooting 40%, but didn’t give ourselves that opportunity often enough.  “We can’t simulate that type of pressure at practice due to our restrictions with the PHDC order, so you watch film and try to put in plays to exploit the gaps, but ball security against teams like Marshall is at a premium.” When the week was over, Sullivan and his Vanguards were happy to be back and excited about what could come next. “We are still in the evaluation process with lineups as they may change from game to game and half to half,” he said. “We will be using game and season stats, as well as opponent matchups throughout the season to determine rotations.  “Ultimately the goal is to be able to s core, take care of the ball and play team defense. Kids were limited on summer activities, due to the PHDC order, so they are just getting to know each other’s tendencies on the court and that is going to take time for them to get comfortable with each other.” • On deck: Heights was at New Glarus Tuesday, then travels to Waterloo Saturday at 1:30 p.m.   Jan. 5 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS 44, CAMBRIDGE 40 Heights ………..… 24 20 — 44 Cambridge ……….27 13 — 40 WISCONSIN HEIGHTS (fg ft-fta pts) — Payne 3 3-4 9; VanRiper 1 1-2 3; Teela 1 0-2 2; Duhr 0 2-2 2; King 4 0-0 8; Bartel 1 2-2 4; Doherty 1 1-2 3; Schaefer 1 2-2 5; Mickelson 3 1-2 8. Totals 15 12-18 44. CAMBRIDGE — Roidt 3 3-4 9; Holzhueter 4 4 4-10 13; Stenklyft 1 0-2 3; Schmude 1 5-7 7; Freeland 0 8-13 8. Totals 9 20-36 40. 3-point goals: WH 2 (Schaefer 1, Mickelson 1); C 2 (Holzhueter 1, Stenklyft 1). Total fouls: WH 22; C 17. Fouled out: WH Bartel; C Holzhueter.