Lancers Eliminated from Girls Tournament by No. 1 Pius

The Pius XI Popes got out to a hot start and didn’t let up against the Brookfield Central Lancers in their 43-30 WIAA Division 1 sectional semi-final victory Thursday evening at Brookfield East High School.

The Popes started the game out red hot with tough defense and great offensive rebounding. They were able to force turnovers on the Lancers' first five possessions, their first eight points were on offensive put backs, and they shut down the Lancers’ offense and held them to only five first-quarter points.

“Our whole thing was to get off to a good start and our girls hit shots often, early and our defense shut them down,” said Pius XI coach Scott Herrick.

With his team down by 14 at half, Lancers coach Dan Wandrey kept the same halftime message as he did last week against West Allis Central. “I said trust yourself, trust your team, and believe in yourselves. We just had to go out and do what we work on and do what we do,” Wandrey said.

The Lancers came out aggressive in the second half with tough defense and great offensive rebounding which was able to open up their offense for senior guard Ariel Goodman and senior forward Maddy Flynn. Each girl scored six points to lead Brookfield Central.

The Lancers tried to rally back in the fourth quarter, and were able to cut the Popes’ lead to 10, but they came up short against Pius’ defense and leadership from senior guard/forward Tierra Bender prevailed.

Bender led all scorers with 14 points while senior guard Nikki Nellen added nine.

The game might have seemed like a low-scoring affair but it was all due the Popes’ rough-and-tumble defense. “The kids worked really hard on D and that’s what has really carried us all year,” Herrick said.

Brookfield Central finished the season 17-8 overall and was the champion of the Greater Metro Conference. The Popes face either Milwaukee Rufus King or Milwaukee Vincent this Saturday for a chance to play on "Super Tuesday" next week.