It was a case of too little, too late for the Waupaca girls’ basketball team.
The Comets outscored Berlin 21-13 in the fourth quarter Feb. 1, but still came out on the short end of a 59-48 score in an Eastern Valley Conference matchup.
Waupaca also picked up a 50-32 win over Winneconne Jan. 29.
Berlin 59, Waupaca 48
Waupaca jumped out to a 9-4 lead in the first quarter, but the momentum began to change after the Comets’ Emily Williams picked up her second foul. Berlin regrouped to take a 14-9 lead into the second quarter and led 32-19 at halftime.
“Once she went out, we looked like a lost team out there,” coach Brandon Temperly said. “We weren’t cutting to the open areas and we were leaving the point guard out to dry on top. That kind of stalled everything.”
The Indians added to their lead with a 14-8 advantage in the third quarter before Waupaca’s late rally.
“I thought our girls played a pretty good second half, but we struggled guarding tonight,” Temperly said. “That’s what it came down to.”
Mikaila Johnson and Emily Barlow led the Comets with 15 and 11 points, respectively, while Berlin’s Callie Walker led all players with 23.
Waupaca 50, Winneconne 32
Johnson scored a game-high 18 points and Morgan Smith added 11 for the Comets.
Waupaca led 13-5 after one quarter, 20-9 at halftime and 38-21 after three quarters before outscoring the visitors 12-11 over the final eight minutes.
Holly Van Dam led Winneconne with 10 points.
The Comets are now off until Freedom comes to town Tuesday, Feb. 12, for a conference rematch and Temperly is looking forward to the time off.
“We have a string of games right after that and then it’s tournament time,” he said. “We need to be ahead of the game academically to be ready.”