Knights' Playoff Run Comes to Close

The Oak Creek Knights' girls basketball team knew it would have to defeat some of the area's top competition to earn the sectional title.

They excelled in matchups against Milwaukee Hamilton and South Milwaukee to advance to their biggest test: a sectional final game with No. 1 seed Racine Case, a team the Knights lost to twice this year.

The Knights, who have fought through adversity the entire season, battled through problems for all four quarters with Case. But on Saturday afternoon, the Knights could not solve those problems and lost 46-35.

Racine Case's full-court pressure wreaked havoc on Oak Creek's offense all game. The physical and aggressive style of play forced the Knights to play at an uncomfortable pace, which kept them out of their half-court offense.

Knights head coach Steve Hluchnik gambled in the first quarter by leaving senior point guard Cydney Weisflog in the game with two fouls. The move immediately backfired when Weisflog picked up an offensive foul, forcing her to the bench for the majority of the first half.

The loss of Weisflog was a big blow for the Knights, but they did not let it decide the game. Struggling on offense, the Knights were forced to step up their defense and held the Eagles to just nine points in the first quarter and 20 in the first half.

Freshmen Tanya Sims and senior Ashley Luke did everything they could to pressure shots and grab rebounds as Case aggressively attacked the rim. Their defensive efforts were key in keeping Oak Creek within three points at half, 20-17.

"If you would have told me that Cydney would miss a quarter and half and we would only be down by three at half, I would take it overtime," Hluchnik said. "We've struggled at point guard without Cyd on the court and I think we did a good job today."

When Weisflog returned, the Knights seemed poised for a run. The Eagles, however, had other plans.

While their high-energy defense stayed strong, Case found their offense and opened the half on an 8-1 run. Senior guard Samantha Logic powered the attack as she poured in half of her 16 points in the quarter. Her pair of three-pointers at the end of the quarter put Case up by a commanding 36-21 lead. 

The Knights tried to battle back in the fourth and even cut the lead down to eight points with three minutes remaining, but Case was too strong down the stretch and put the game out of reach at the free throw line.

Luke scored 13 points and Weisflog added eight to lead the Knights in the final games of their career.

"They kept us out of our offense all game long," Hluchnik said. "Along with that, we missed free throws and didn't finish our shots. Hats off to them for playing a great game."

With the victory, Case advances to the Super Tuesday game, where the winner advances to state. The Knights finish their season with a 19-6 overall record.