Ashley Markowiak's Big Night Leads Falcons in Regional

Ashley Markowiak picked a fine time to have a career night.

The junior scored a career-high 34 points in front of a home crowd as the eighth-seeded Falcons toppled ninth-seeded Greendale, 60-52, in a WIAA Division 2 regional quarterfinal Tuesday.

The win assured Whitnall (12-11) of a record of .500 or better and gave the Falcons two wins in three tries over the rival Panthers.

Perhaps equally impressive as Markowiak's effort was the night teammate Lizzy Menden turned in. She scored all nine of her points in the fourth quarter to key a comeback, and added five rebounds, six assists and seven steals.

The Falcons trailed, 39-31, with 36 seconds left in the third quarter but went on a 20-2 run over the next 4 minutes to take a 51-41 lead with less than 5 minutes remaining.

Jackie Gruszka, Gabby Weis, Brittany Szukalski and Ann Marie Bay all played key roles in the comeback, according to coach Keith Larson.

Up next for the Falcons is top-seeded and undefeated New Berlin Eisenhower in a regional semifinal at 7 p.m. Friday. The Lions (22-0) defeated the Falcons by an average margin of 32 points in two regular season meetings.