A decade ago, Kenosha Indian Trail’s girls basketball program finished 9-14. Three seasons later, it was in the cellar of the Southeast Conference at 4-20. After a 16-9 campaign in Hawks coach Charles Basaldua’s first season at the helm during the 2021-22 season with nine seniors in the rotation, Indian Trail hasn’t reached or surpassed that mark.
That changed Jan. 30 with a 64-60 victory over Greendale in nonconference action on the road to extend the program’s winning streak to 11 games and move the Hawks to 16-2 on the season with six games to go.
“The first year I was here we had nine seniors, won 16 games and set a school record for wins,” Basaldua said. “It was awesome, but when you lose those nine [seniors] and then it’s into rebuilding. We’ve had a senior captain here and there, but we’ve been looking for our identity and I think this year they have bought in and have it.”
Junior sharpshooter Lily Meo isn’t just the team’s leading scorer at 16.5 points per game. She set the tone in a 36-23 first half with three 3-pointers and active hands defensively as part of Indian Trail’s 2-2-1 full-court press, overcoming some issues on the defensive end in her first two varsity seasons.
Aaliyah Taylor has battled nagging injuries over the last year and a severe head injury against Oak Creek last season contesting for a rebound to lead the Hawks in rebounding and dives onto the hardwood, especially before she injured her left wrist toward the end of Friday’s win.
Malia Sanders continues to grow into a potential star for the Hawks as a sophomore and was one of four Hawks who scored at least nine points against the Panthers.
“We have a lot of goals,” Basaldua said. “We’ve yet to get past regionals. We have an excellent opportunity to do that, but not if we play like that, right? We have to have the right mentality and play a full 36 minutes.”
To Basaldua’s point, the Hawks led Greendale by 18 points with 8:38 to play (52-34) and with 48.7 seconds left, it was a three-point game (61-58) after a gritty second-chance putback from Greendale’s Tatiyana Edwards (12 points).
“We just had a game on Tuesday [against Racine Park] and we were up 30-some points. [Racine] Park got it down to about 16 at one point and in the locker room the kids seemed a bit frustrated even though we won by 29. You would’ve thought we lost the game,” Basaldua said. “This group is young, but experienced because they all played last year. … That’s been the theme of the locker rooms in the last couple games. I was like, ‘All right, guys. We’ve got a quarter of the season left. These are the things we have to work on as far as our mindset goes, our keys to winning and so on.’ “
Greendale’s valiant effort was sparked by 11 second-half points from Macey St. Lawrence and a trio of triples from leading scorer Giselle Paszkiewicz (game-high 17 points), but Tori Judon (11 points) and the Indian Trail guards kept their composure in the final moments and helped finish an 11th straight win.
You won’t hear Basaldua mention that streak, the single-season win record or anything regarding his program’s excellent season, though. The fifth-year coach mentioned taking a look at the WIAA’s new midseason seed report for the upcoming girls basketball tournament, but in terms of discussing this season’s successes with his team, it’s not on the daily whiteboard in the locker room.
“I didn’t want to put too much pressure on them,” Basaldua said. “I have yet to say a word about the win streak. We have not even talked about it. There’s a reason for that. There’s practices where they get run down or they just feel tired. There’s a band [competition] at ITA this weekend, so it’s a good opportunity for the girls to go home and reset like we did earlier in the season. It was a good focus point for them. They came back energetic and ready to go.
“We got six conference games left. Their goal is to win conference for the first time ever. There’s no reason why they can’t after beating everyone the first time around. So, basically, we don’t talk about streaks. We don’t talk about school records. Keeping them focused, it’s an everyday thing.”
Wauwatosa East survives game of the year, then beats rival Tosa West
A great week for defending Division 2 state champion Wauwatosa East got even better with a dominant 83-26 victory in the Battle of Wauwatosa over West on Jan. 30. The Red Raiders moved to 18-0 on the season and extended their winning streak to 30 games dating back to last season’s title run.
The victory marked the 12th time the Red Raiders reached or eclipsed the 80-point mark this season. In the final six contests of the regular season, the toughest challenge likely left for the defending state champions is a trip to Brookfield on Feb. 10 to face title rival Brookfield East. The Spartans were the last team to knock off Tosa East last season and forced a Greater Metro Conference title split.
The biggest hurdle of the season came earlier in the week in a 76-66 overtime classic against fellow Division 1 state title contender Arrowhead. As usual, DePaul recruit Mikaia Litza showed up with the lights on brightest with a 25-point, seven-assist performance, while Audrey Sellinger added 17 points and seven rebounds. The Red Raiders defense held the Warhawks to their third-lowest point total of the season and Minnesota recruit Natalie Kussow to just 16 points, well below her near-28 points per game average this season.
Arrowhead’s Kussow named West Team nominee for 2026 McDonald’s All-American Game
This week wasn’t all doom and gloom for the Warhawks. They got back on track following the tough loss at home to Wauwatosa East with a comfortable 68-42 victory over Mukwonago to move to 16-1 on the campaign and stay unbeaten at 10-0 in Classic 8 Conference play. The schedule doesn’t get any easier with a visit from Notre Dame Academy on Jan. 31, along with matchups against defending Division 1 state champion Kimberly and defending D3 state champion Oostburg to come this season, but there was reason to celebrate this week.
Kussow broke another program record by becoming the all-time rebounding leader with 827 rebounds (and counting), adding to her impressive Ms. Basketball resume for this year’s award. Kussow is one of the state’s leading scorers, along with recently becoming Waukesha County’s all-time leading scorer, surpassing former Kettle Moraine great and future teammate Grace Grocholski.
On top of her record-breaking season, Kussow was also named a nominee for the West Team roster in the 2026 McDonald’s All-American Game, along with Samantha Davis (La Crosse Aquinas), Adaline Sheplee (Rice Lake), Leah Nordin (Shawano) and Jordyn Jaglinski (Wisconsin Rapids Assumption) from Wisconsin.
Hartford, Whitefish Bay keep pressure on each other in North Shore title race
After this past week, the two best teams in the North Shore Conference have truly separated themselves with about three weeks left in the regular season. Both Whitefish Bay (16-2, 8-0) and Hartford (12-6, 7-1) dispatched Grafton this week as the massive rematch between the two title contenders looms Feb. 12 at Hartford. The Orioles have won four of their last five after an 89-59 victory over Slinger through a brutally difficult stretch of the season, while the Blue Dukes haven’t suffered a defeat since Dec. 13 in a 91-79 loss to Arrowhead, winning all 10 games by at least 12 points in this hot stretch.
This article originally appeared on Milwaukee Journal Sentinel: High school girls basketball news, notes and takeaways in Milwaukee area
