Senior forward helps Cardinals to 12-1 start; Milwaukee North girls have scoring sensation.
By John Raffel
MaxPreps.com
Brennan Olson has been relying more on talent than luck this season in leading Luck High School to a 12-1 record.
Olson, a 6-foot-5 senior, is scorching the nets for 25 points per game.
“He helps with his leadership on and off the floor, plus his ability to get the rebounds up above everybody and being able to score,” Luck head coach Rick Giller said of Olson. “But it's a well-balanced team. When he's not shooting, other people have picked up the slack.”
Olson's best single-game outburst has been 43 points.
“He is mostly an inside player because that's where we play him,” Giller said. “In that game (with 43) he had three threes. The game before that he had two threes. He does play both positions for us. He has the ability to get rebounds. He's averaging around 15 rebounds a game.”
His teammates have been keeping their eyes on Olson in the offense.
“When I'm open they give me the ball. That's a big part of it, I guess,” Olson said. “I have pretty good ball handling skills and post play, better shooting from the outside is what I'd like to improve on.”
Olson said he wants to improve on his 30 percent shooting accuracy from 3-point territory. But he says that he's definitely a better player than he was last season.
“Last year, the first 12 to 13 games I had 18 points a game and 11 rebounds,” Olson said. “Then I got a back injury. I went in for a couple of games and didn't play much. That brought the averages down.”
Olson likes his team's prospects for the rest of the season, especially the way Luck has been playing defensively.
“We hold our teams to 32 points a game. That's a big part of our success I believe,” Olson said.
Luck’s first loss of the year came Tuesday night in a 43-42 heartbreaker against Grantsburg.
Girls Basketball
Tasha Allen of Milwaukee North is having a banner season, averaging 27.5 points a game for a team that's 5-3. The 5-foot-6 shooting guard has a high game of 40 points.
“She's a natural,” Milwaukee North coach Anthony Miller said. “She's an outstanding athlete.”
Having a game-chancing talent like Allen is a luxury for a first-year coach like Miller.
“She changed the landscape of how teams prepare to play us,” Miller said. “Two teams have played a triangle-and-two on her. That's kind of rare in girls basketball. I've never seen that.”
More Girls Basketball
Sheboygan North is off to an 11-1 start, led by one of the state's most versatile players in Alexis Stewart, a 5-foot-10 senior guard.
“She does everything for us,” Sheboygan North Coach Susie Runaas said. “The play of Alexis Stewart has been a key.”
Stewart averages 10.5 points, 5.5 steals, 5.2 rebounds and 4.3 assists a game. She scored 28 points in one of the team's December victories against Campbellsport.
