Teams to Note From the Pewaukee Fall League

For about the last month, I've gone over to Pewaukee to watch their fall league on Sundays. Today, I figured we might as well talk about some of the stuff that went down in Pirate Country, from players to teams. First, we'll highlight players and then close with teams in a separate article.   Whitefish Bay   I've talked about how much fun this group could be to watch in the recent past, but I wanted to talk about them a little more in-depth than I did a few days ago. The Blue Dukes had the best turnout of anyone besides Pewaukee. They were extremley aggressive and pressed full court, and it had mixed results, but when it worked, their games turned into blowouts quickly. If I recall, they ran a diamond press or only had one kid below the free-throw line pressuring the inbound pass. What comes after the inbound is pure chaos. They swarm to the ball, and even though they aren't that tall, they forced cross-court lob passes that usually turned into turnovers. However, what they did in that transition phase was always the most fun part about watching them play. Whether [player_tooltip player_id='751283' first='Rowan' last='Counsell'], [player_tooltip player_id='751268' first='Madeline' last='Volpe'], Grace Lodl, or [player_tooltip player_id='509716' first='Sage' last='Miskel'] picked those passes off, they had numbers attacking the rim, and all of them make good decisions with the ball, so they got good looks every time in transition and hardly turned the ball over in that setting. They may have the most talent of everyone in the North Shore, but they'll be one of the most annoying teams to play against.   Sussex Hamilton   I know little about what the Chargers have heading into this season, and I couldn't tell you who was who when I saw them, but I thought they played solid basketball. I'll keep it brief because I don't want to ramble, but they play as a unit and could be good for another upset or two.   Homestead   For the most part, the Highlanders played the way I expected them to play. They made shots, were willing passers, handily beat the teams they were supposed to, and everyone seemed to know their roles that they stuck. It feels seamless over there. In all fairness, when you have kids together for three years, that's expected. I thought [player_tooltip player_id='329589' first='Madison' last='Fitzgibbon'] was a more aggressive and willing passer than I remember her being from last year. Honestly, that level of passing is what they didn't have last year to reward the cutters they have with back-breaking passes, and Fitzgibbon could be the one who takes Homestead to the next level with her passing. Then, next to her, you have these hard-nosed kids who'll mostly be undersized for their position and who keep improving, like [player_tooltip player_id='338951' first='Natalie' last='Mueller'], [player_tooltip player_id='448303' first='Grace' last='Zortman'], [player_tooltip player_id='209594' first='Katelyn' last='Odem'], and [player_tooltip player_id='338947' first='Lauren' last='Strifling'].   Kettle Moraine   The best part about Fall League is that they don't mean much in the grand scheme of things, and for Kettle Moraine, they were still figuring out what works for them offensively and defensively. There were some flashes where three girl lineups of Lodes-Bond-Gomez did stuff that'd make you believe that there's something there. However, since everything is new, there were times when the wheels fell off. Once this group gets going with their main three, there's a chance that they could beat teams by taking care of the ball and scoring off their defense.   Arrowhead   When I watched Arrowhead and Pewaukee, I graded them on a different scale than the other teams there. Those two are legitimate state title hopefuls and two of the five best teams in the state. So, I'm a little more nitpicky with them. They are going to play fast because their personnel demands it. However, I wish I would've seen more of their metal in their half-court, solely because that's where Sectional and State games will be won or lost. However, again, I'm probably being a little too nitpicky because they have one of the best scorers in the state, [player_tooltip player_id='533057' first='Natalie' last='Kussow'], on their roster.   Brookfield East   I'm not 100% sure what to think of Brookfield East yet because I don't think they had everyone at their Fall League games, but the backcourt trio of Kelley-Kovacic-Doyle was, and they all looked excellent. [player_tooltip player_id='266987' first='Shae' last='Kelley'] continued to look productive on both ends of the floor, Kovacic has always had a knack for scoring the ball, which hasn't gone away, and Doyle did a solid job being a threat on the offensive end. The Spartans probably have a higher ceiling than I thought.

For about the last month, I've gone over to Pewaukee to watch their fall league on Sundays. Today, I figured we might as well talk about some of the stuff that went down in Pirate Country, from players to teams. First, we'll highlight players and then close with teams in a separate article.