I know my headline says 'Touching All The Bases,' but this blog has nothing to do with baseball. I just have some topics I would like to hit on.

Mixed Signals

I have talked about this year's Brookfield Central girls basketball team alot this year. I thought I was the only one who couldn't figure them out. But the Lancers, who looked lost at times in a loss to DSHA last Friday, are also confusing their coach Dan Wandrey.

"I don't know what it is," Wandrey told me after the loss. "I spend half my time trying to convince them how good they are and the other half of my time trying to convince them they are not as good as they think they are. If that makes sense?"

Unfortunately, I think it does. This Lancer team is good enough to win the conference - going to state might be another matter. But this team is not good enough to throw a basketball on the floor and expect most good teams to roll over.

Wandrey, who raises his voice a bit when he coaches, also said something that makes a lot of sense. "When you win a lot of games easily, things get let go. I'm a jerk when I yell in games and we're up by 25. One of our slogans we talk about is don't accept in wins what you won't accept in defeats. And clearly, that wasn't taken to heart."

Gotta have heart

Brookfield Central boys basketball coach Mark Adams talked about his senior's farewell tour starting. That means when the Lancers play their second-time around in the GMC, it will be the final time that the seniors play these teams or visit the opponents' gym.

Alex Diciaula is the only senior on this year's team and Adams talked about this with his team. Going into Tuesday night's game with West Allis Hale, the Lancers are 0-2 on the tour. This year's team, not counting Diciaula, seems to lack passion, which obviously displeased Adams. After a listless first half against Tosa East last week, Adams spent all of half-time chewing his team out.

Fight Like A Champion

Tosa West Assistant coach Chad Stelse will take over for coach Mike Landisch (kidney cancer) the rest of the way, with help, of course, from assistant Ryan Bailey. The Trojans are on a roll, having one 6 of 7 and three straight.

They face a HUGE game at Whitnall as they battle for second. Five games left, three behind Ike (12-0), first place isn't likely. The Trojans are very talented and playing with a lot of emotion.

KUDOS

Brookfield East senior center Marley Blood scored a career high 23 points against Sussex Hamilton last week and Tosa West guard Jackie Glaser had her second big game with a 16-point outing at St. Francis on Friday.

Talk about a high and a low week, Anthony Carroll - sensational freshman is not his first name but I seem to use it a lot - set a Tosa West school record of 42 points in a win over Racine Horlick last week. But on Friday, he didn't make the box score because he because of some practice issues.

Brookfield East boys beat Tosa East in overtime last Friday and won at Tosa East for the first time in 13 tries. Congrats to coach Andy Farley, whose Spartans swept the Red Raiders this year.

See ya in a few days.

Sky

He is only a sophomore, but at 6-foot-6-inch Darrell Bowie could be the key to Wauwatosa East's season the rest of the way.

Bowie, who is averaging 10.8 points per game, stepped up big time last weekend. He scored 19 points and grabbed four rebounds against first-place Menomonee Falls in a 72-64 loss, but he put on quite a show along with the Indians' JP Tokoto.

Then on Saturday night, he played a key role down the stretch from the free throw line and had a monster game, scoring 33 points and grabbing 22 rebounds in a thrilling 76-72 win over an improved Tosa West team.

And one of the reasons the Trojans are so improved is the play of freshman Anthony Carroll, who had 17, 24 and 24 points in two Woodland Conference wins and the loss to Tosa East. AC is averaging 15.4 PPG so far this year.

The Trojans are in a little better shape than the Raiders in conference play (7-3) and have a big game against Whitnall (7-3) at home on Friday in a battle for second behind New Berlin Eisenhower (10-0).

***

Friday's agenda

The Brookfield Central boys (3-3) have their hands full at Menomonee Falls, while Brookfield East (1-5) needs a win badly and face winless West Allis Hale at home. The Lady Lancers should handle the Indians at home and the Lady Spartans are hoping to get a big league win at winless Hale game.

Tosa East boys (3-3) travel to Hamilton (4-2), as the battle for second-place should start clearing up in the next few weeks, as Marquette (5-1) currently holds the runner-up spot. I already mentioned the Trojans playing the Falcons for second Friday night. The Trojan girls (7-3) play at Whitnall (4-6) Thursday night and I will be at hand for that game. When the Falcons are healthy, they are a tough team to beat. The Red Raider girls will have their hands full with a solid Hamilton team at home.

***

Look for my feature on Demetrious Mensah, the 125-pound ace of Wauwatosa's co-op wrestling team next week. In Brookfield, look for my feature on former Brookfield East star Kelly Lam, who is now an assistant coach at West Allis Central.

Talk to you soon.

This ain't brain surgery, but barring injury or suspensions,  I don't think there is going to be much of a race for the Greater Metro Conference title in boys basketball.

Menomonee Falls has done a good job so far and has lived up to expectations as the pre-season favorite. I don't see anyone catching them. In fact, if they lose more than one conference game I will be surprised.  Star guard JP Tokoto is a fun player to watch and the Indians have great senior balance.

The Indians are 8-3 overall as of Tuesday and only one team - Sussex Hamilton - is 2 games over .500 overall.

You want to have some fun, then try and sort out the battle for second place.

Marquette (4-1, 55), Hamilton (3-2, 7-5) and the Wauwatosa East (3-2, 5-7) are the front runners in my opinion, while Brookfield Central (2-3, 6-5) and West Allis Central (2-3, 7-6) are right behind that group.

RANDOM THOUGHTS

• The faster Brookfield Central learns to play defense, the quicker the Lancers will become contenders. Coach Mark Adams has some players who can shoot - led by the only senior - Alex Diciaula.
   
• Brookfield East is an excellent defensive team, but talented 6-5 junior forward C.J. Gregg is one of the best big men in the GMC. He can score inside or take the ball outside and nail the 15-footer.
   
• I know it's only me, but when I look at the Tosa East basketball roster, I see a great baseball player (Danny Sayles), an excellent quarterback (Ethan Harris), an outstanding soccer player (Jackson Orin), two good volleyball players (Aaron Uden, Matt Patton), a good catcher (Tyler O'Brien) and some speedy wide receivers (Vince Cupertino, Jake Larson and Ken Youngblood).
   
• If Tosa West guards Jarvis Ashley, a 6-1 junior, and A.J. Krause, a 5-11 senior, step up their games, look for the Trojans to play even better the rest of the way.

That's it for now. Be back soon.

Sky

When looking at the Greater Metro Conference boys baskteball race, I can't see anyone beating a talented Menomonee Falls team (6-3), led by everyone's favorite recruit, J.P. Tokoto. West Allis Central is 7-1, so they also have to be dealt with, and Hamilton is 6-4.

Although not as talented as in the past, Marquette (2-5) should be in the race and Wauwatosa East (3-7) might also be formidable.

If Mark Adams can get Brookfield Central's young team to understand that you play like you practice, they also could be fun to watch. Alex Diciaula, the only senior on the team, is a captain and the team's leading scorer at 17.1 points per game. Just under 10 PPG is junior guard Alex Olson and sophomore Seth Mortag, a 6-5 sophomore.

Central (5-4) needs to play good defense - they were leading a talented Nicolet team in the title game of the Luke Homan Tournament, 42-35, with 2:12 left in the third period when the Knights' press flustered the Lancers and they took control of the rebounding and won the game, 65-54.

East has 6-5 junior C.J. Gregg to lean on, but the Spartans might have trouble scoring this year. Kyle Henning is a good outside threat and 6-3 junior Darius Barnes came off the bench to spark a win over Westosha Central in the LaVern Luebstorf Tournament.

Coach Andy Farley's boys team (2-6) has some height with Colin DeVoe (6-4) and Dan Osgood (6-6) also in the starting line-up.

It will be interesting to see these teams compete this year and defense will be a key if they are going to be successful.

The Tosa boys teams have been playing some holiday thrillers, as Wauwatosa West and Wauwatosa East just finished a busy week.

COMEBACK KIDS - The Trojans from Tosa West were down by 10 points with 1:54 left against Appleton East at home Wednesday night. Then get this...

• A.J. Krause hit a 3-pointer.
• Sam Krenzien stole the ball, scored, was fouled and sank the free throw.
• Appleton East hit 1-of-2 free throws.
• Krenzien hits a lay-up
• Anthony Carroll scores a bucket, is fouled and sinks the FT to tie the score.
• East sinks 1-of-2 free throws
• West coach Mike Landisch called an isolation play for Carroll, but he got cut off, found Krenzien who scored to give West the lead.
• Krenzien then steals the ball and scores for a 64-61 lead.

Landisch has the Trojans 6-3, 5-2 in the Woodland Conference. With Krenzien and Ray Sterling, Jr. back to lead West, the addition of the talented freshman Anthony Carroll (call him AC) has added to the excitement and improvement of a talented West team.

WHO ARE THESE GUYS - After playing a terrible game and losing to an average Pius XI team on Sunday night in the Wisconsin Basketball Yearbook 2009 Shootout at the Al, the Red Raiders came back and upset long-time rival Milwaukee Washington the next night.

TE coach Tim Arndorfer called a time-out after the Purgolders took the lead with 4.2 seconds left, got the ball to his leading scorer Danny Sayles, who raced down the left side of the court and drilled a 3-pointer at the buzzer.

"I looked for the referees to make sure the shot counted," Arndorfer said. "Then I looked around me and I was by myself standing on the bench."

Everyone had piled on Sayles. "It was a big pile," Arnie said. "But it was a big win."

This is not a super talented Red Raider team, but they showed what kind of heart they had with that type of effort after playing perhaps their worst game of the year the night before.

Tosa East had two 1-point losses, a 4-pointer and a 5-pointer among their losses (3-7 overall record).

It has been a little over a month since I underwent right hip replacement surgery and I have been back at work for three weeks, the last two literally in the office.

I did not cover a game until Dec. 18 when I traveled over to Wauwatosa West and watched the Trojans beat St. Thomas More in an exciting come-from-behind thriller.

I had hoped to cover games earlier, but because of the snow and ice and -6 degree temperature, I was unsure of my footing and didn't want to be found in the parking lot, frozen to my walker.

Here are some quick thoughts on the local girls basketball teams based on what I've read and the coaches I have spoken with.

GIRLS

Brookfield Central, playing a much stronger schedule this year (see my column in BrookfieldNOW), is off to a good start in the Greater Metro (2-0), but has a losing record overall (2-3) with a game with Milwaukee Vincent scheduled for Monday. I really wonder how much the loss of Joanna Bielefeld will hurt this team in the big games.

Brookfield East needs to find a third scorer behind Miss Inside - 6-5 Marley Blood - and Miss Outside - Laren Nashleanas.  If you stop one of them, you have a good chance of beating the Lady Spartans.

Wauwatosa East is probably in for another long year, but the Red Raiders have been short-handed to start the season.  Talisha Simpson,  Alex Kramer and Carley Herald have been off to good starts.

Wauwatosa West is 4-2 and it looks like the Trojans have four players who can put the ball in the hoop in Jessica Allemang, Molly Boyle, Jackie Glaser and Ashley Ballinger.

Just some small thoughts to get me going again.  Happy Holidays!

Sky

Be a hit and have a ball.

Third-seeded Brookfield Central will have its hands full when the Lady Lancers travel to Racine Park to battle Muskego, the top-rated volleyball team in the state.

Coach Karen Anderson has a fabulous team, led by the likes of 6-1 Rachel Neuberger, Katie Ellerson, Rachel Jeske, Kate La Tour and Sarah Mlachnik. They are not only talented, but they are having fun on the court.

Watching them sweep Brookfield East on Thrusday night at Hale, the Warriors looked like they were playing at a backyard picnic they were so relaxed and having so much fun.

Brookfield Central's Erin Lueder, Britney Held, Maria Fotsch, Annie Evanich and Kirsten Siladi are a talented front line, Mallory O'Halloran, Jasmine Lindstrom and Kayla Thurston do a fine job serving and setting.

But the Warriors are 41-5 for a reason and as Central coach Scott Spiess said afterwards, "We're going to have our hands full."

***

On Thursday in the win over second-seeded Franklin, with the games tied at 1-1, Central earned a crucial point to take a 24-22 lead.  Initially the point at the net was given to Franklin, which would have tied the game, but the officials discussed it and changed the ruling. The officials actually agreed with the call, but one didn't interpet the other's signal correctly. Central went on to win 25-23.

This obviously displeased the Saber fans.

For after the game, one of the Franklin 'adults' and I use the term loosely, approached the officials and berated them, because, of course, they were the reasons this team lost. When one of the officials, who couldn't walk away because she was putting her street shoes on, suggested he get his officials license, he snapped at her and told her 'Why didn't she get hers?'

Obviously, this showed his emotional state, since she had her license or she couldn't be officiating. Or maybe this showed his lack of common sense or emotional control. 

He was a rather large man and he finally had to be seperated by a Franklin adult who actually lived up to that description.

This brings up another point. When Arrowhead beat Brookfield Central in soccer last week to advance to state, the Arrowhead fans in front of the pressbox - the red jackets and hats helped identify who they were with -  were some of the worst referee-baiters I have seen at the high school level.

Almost - and I am not embellishing - every time two players collided and fell to the ground they were ripping the officials, screaming for a yellow card. Even if the player laying on the ground was from Brookfield.

And they were winning!

People, this is soccer, there is contact, give me a break here.

One of the main points I want to make here is these were adults. Most of the students I see are more controlled than some of the parents.

Brookfield Central tied Brookfield East, 1-1, Thursday night on a sloppy field at East, won a 5-3 shootout and then advanced to the sectional semi-finals at 2 p.m. on Saturday back at Brookfield Central.

The field conditions and the weather were absolutely terrible and it was a tribute to both the Lancers and Spartans that they performed as well as they did under those conditions. Several times throughout the game the athletes would find themselves slipping and sliding trying to change directions.

It even rained in the pressbox, as the windows had to stay open just to see what was happening on the field. I use felt pens, so my notes looked pretty when the blue and orange ink blended together.

An unusual occurrence came late in the game when Central star Kevin Ferron left the game with cramping and hypothermia. He was rushed to the pressbox where he changed clothes with the help of the trainer and an assistant coach, dried off and put on dry clothes to help warm up.

The two media people, the Central film person, the PA/scorekeeper and the two Central stat girls all kept our eyes on the field while this was happening, of course.

Afterwards, following the standard operating procedure for this I was told, the two stat girls hugged Ferron to help keep him warm (he did seem to be smiling). He wouldn't leave until the game was over, even as a car was being warmed up to take him to the hospital. After the Lancers won, his teammates were waiting at the bottom of the steps behind the pressbox and they cheered him on while he made his way down the steps and to the car.

Coach Jon Mroz reported Friday morning that he was doing fine and would be OK. His status for Saturday was up-in-the air for the championship game with Arrowhead, but I wouldn't count the gutsy Ferron out.

There will be plenty of pride on the line Friday night when Brookfield Central hosts Marquette and Brookfield East travels to Wauwatosa East - for different reasons.

The Lancers (2-2 in the Greater Metro Conference) had their slim title hopes crushed when they lost to a fired up West Allis Hale team last Friday. A big tip of the cap goes to Hale coach Scott Otto and his Huskies, who kicked 3 field goals to beat the Lancers, 9-7.

The Huskies shut down the Lancers' running game, which is keyed by Badger recruit Jeff Lewis, and now Central has to win two of its final three games to qualify for the players.

The powerful Hilltoppers are tied with Menomonee Falls for first place with 4-0 records and this looks like one of Marquette's better teams.  The playoffs are on the line for Central, but coach Doug Lange will also talk about Lancer Pride when the teams meet Friday.

It will be interesting to see what sophomore QB Jason Meichtry and talented receivers Matt Krogman and Sam Rohr can do against the Hilltoppers and their outstanding linebackers Michael and Marcus Trotter.

Over at Hart Park two teams who will be looking for their first GMC win meet and there is a good chance that the loser of this game will go winless in conference play.

The QB story is interesting in both games. Tosa East senior QB Ethan Harris, out with a concussion, is expected to return to the line-up. Harris, all-league as a junior, is one of the best runners/passers in the GMC this year despite an average supporting cast.

Junior QB Jon Lehman was inserted into the line-up last week in place of senior Skyler Holden as the Spartans were "looking for a spark" according to coach Sal Logue. If a spark is needed for the Spartans, this would certainly be a game to start a fire.

Wauwatosa West has a chance to grab its second Woodland Conference win against winless Greenfield at home on Friday. Playing without star QB Kevin Gorman, who is out for the year, the Trojans scored 28 points in a loss last week.

Both the Tosa games are homecoming, so the home teams will have an emotional advantage.

If you wanted to see some good soccer, you should have been at the Brookfield Central-Brookfield East match on Tuesday night at East.

The student sections were packed on both sides - and loud as well - but the middle of the section was emptier than it should have been.

It was interesting to see the Spartan fans in bright red and the Lancer fans in blue while the East team was in white and the Central squad in black.

The Lancers continued their mastery over the Spartans - who always seem to be ranked higher - as Central coach Jon Mroz, decked out in a sharp wide lapeled suit and a newsboy hat, said his team has not lost to East in the regular season since 2005 (East has beaten BC in the post-season).

Central won, 2-1, in a thriller, as the talent on both teams was fun to watch. The speed, the passing ability, the footwork and the defense, is rare to see on both sides of the ball.

Sophomore Stuart McBain has been a pain in the (fill-in) to East, as he scored the winning goal in the final seconds of double overtime last year as a freshman and then made a beautiful stop on a long pass and in the same motion kicked the ball to assist on Matt Merz' winning goal.

East coach Herbie Dundun, who spoke in quieter terms to the media than he did to his team, was disappointed, of course, but he also realized that he didn't have much time to dwell on it with Marquette on the horizon.

The Lancers now have the inside track to the Greater Metro title with only Menomonee Falls and West Allis Central on the schedule.

And it will only get better in the post-season.