Injury and defection limit Bay girls' prospects in the early going

Whitefish Bay - This was not the way it was supposed to work out for the Whitefish Bay girls basketball team this winter after the Blue Dukes won a share of the North Shore Conference title last season and advanced to the WIAA Division 2 sectional final.

But Blue Dukes coach Greg Capper is dealing with a new reality in 2012-13, as three-year starting point guard Elizabeth Johnston decided not to come out for her senior season, and junior returning NOW All-Suburban center Maya Jonas had knee surgery in May and won't be available until January at the earliest.

The results, so far, have been competitive but difficult, as the Blue Dukes lost to two state preseason top 10 teams (Sussex Hamilton and Oak Creek) in the Hank Raymonds Classic last weekend at Pius XI.

"We are a work in progress," Capper said, "but we're going to plan on being a different team a month from now and an even better team a month after that. I like these kids in terms of their intensity and their fundamentals. And there are things we can do to be more competitive."

The 6-2 Jonas is one of several veterans for the Blue Dukes this fall. Against Hamilton in the 45-29 semifinal loss Friday at Pius, Capper started an all-senior lineup including 6-1 Helena Dziadowicz, 6-0 Katie Pavlic, 5-5 Jamie Talbert, 5-9 Ava Stock and 5-6 Maddie Garcia with 5-7 freshman guard Emma Jonas, 5-10 junior forward Abi Harper and 6-0 sophomore forward Ashley Reed coming off the bench.

"What we need is for kids to step up and step up and be capable of scoring," Capper said. "I still think we can be very competitive when all things are settled. But right out of the gate, this tournament was a problem. We were easily the worst team of the four here (including host Pius), but we'll get better.

"It'll be a matter of handling adversity."

Bay will host 2-0 Germantown in its North Shore opener at 7:30 p.m. Friday.

The Blue Dukes held their own against eventual tourney champ Sussex Hamilton for three quarters in Friday's semifinal, as it was tied at 27 going into the final stanza, but then the talent-laden Chargers outscored Bay 18-2 in the final eight minutes.

Harper had 11 and Stock eight for the Blue Dukes.

Against Oak Creek in Saturday's consolation game, the Blue Dukes simply could not match up and fell behind 20-6 at the quarter before losing 52-22. Garcia had six for Bay.