Sheboygan Falls girls basketball wins first Eastern Wisconsin Conference title since 2013
SHEBOYGAN FALLS — In the first practice of the season, Sheboygan Falls Falcons girls basketball coach Paul Houwers pointed to a banner in the gymnasium.
The banner listed the conference championships won by the program with the last one coming in the 2012-13 season.
He made his point clear to the players, he wanted a new team etched on the banner.
With a 58-39 win over the Valders Vikings on Thursday, Houwers got his wish as Sheboygan Falls capped an undefeated Eastern Wisconsin Conference championship.
Had Valders won, the two teams would have shared the title.
“Winning conference, you never take that for granted,” Houwers, who also coached the last EWC champion Falcons, said. “It's been our goal since Day 1, and we got there.”
A big factor in the victory was junior Addison Schliewe, who scored a game-high 27 points.
“Going into tonight we knew it would be a battle and they’d want it,” Schliewe said.
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Schliewe was draped by the Vikings defense all evening, going to the free-throw line 17 times and converting 13 of those.
In the second half, she only made one field goal but still managed to score 10 points and keep Sheboygan Falls going offensively.
“It’s really important that when (my shot isn’t) falling that those are points you need in a game like tonight,” Schliewe said.
Valders coach Eric Otto thought Schliewe could be slowed down by aggressive defense, sending the 50% free throw shooter to the line worse case.
“If there’s a weakness to Addison’s game its free throws,” Otto said. “We knew if the game was tight, that could be an opportunity. Hats off to her, she hit the free throws.”
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Houwers also credited Schliewe’s ability to convert 76% on Thursday night.
“She was money from the free-throw line,” Houwers said with a smile. “She hit her free throws tonight, and when she is going to the line and making them it makes a huge difference. When she makes here free throws, she’s virtually unstoppable.”
According to Valders’ sophomore Megan Hochkammer, who led the Vikings with 14 points, the difference was very simple. One team made their shots, and the other didn’t.
“We played hard but missed too many buckets and (Schliewe) scored too many buckets,” Hochkammer said.
Despite the lack of offense, Otto didn’t want to take anything away from a sophomore-dominated team which was predicted to finish third in the EWC but had a chance in the final game of the regular season to clinch a share of the title.
“Overall, super proud of our kids,” Otto said. “Every year, the goal is to have a shot the last game of the year. You can’t ask for anything more than that. No one but the 15 players and two coaches in our program thought we’d be where we are.”
Houwers agrees with the sentiment of how special it is to have meaningful games late in the season.
“The fact that we have something to play for at this time of the year is so fun,” Houwers said. “The crowd in the gym, the band, everybody being here. And being able to do this on our home court was such a special moment.”
Contact Tom Dombeck at 920-686-2965 or tdombeck@htrnews.com. Follow him on X, formerly known as Twitter, at @Tom_Dombeck.
This article originally appeared on Manitowoc Herald Times Reporter: Sheboygan Falls girls basketball clinches Eastern Wisconsin Conference
