Milwaukee, WI

Area girls basketball takeaways features All-American nominees and history made for Whitnall

Published

12 months ago

January 18, 2025

Area girls basketball takeaways features All-American nominees and history made for Whitnall

With the final couple of weeks of January to come, it feels like the girls basketball season is starting to hit that next gear as conference title races tighten and contenders truly start to separate themselves from the rest of the field.

We’ll take a look at the week that was around the greater Milwaukee area, including a pair of superstars who could join an exclusive group soon.

Pair of area stars named to McDonald’s All-American Game nominee list

Wisconsin has three McDonald’s All-American Game nominees this year, with two from the greater Milwaukee area. Hartford forward Makena Christian (Minnesota) and Pewaukee guard Amy Terrian (Michigan State) were both named to the nominee list, along with Hortonville star Rainey Welson (Maryland).

If one or both are selected to the game, which will be played April 1 at the Barclays Center in Brooklyn, they would join current Connecticut guard KK Arnold (Germantown, 2023), current Women’s Chinese Basketball Association player Sidney Cooks (Kenosha St. Joseph, 2017), current Dallas Wings star Arike Ogunbowale (DSHA, 2015) and current Oregon assistant coach Samantha Logic (Racine Case, 2011) as the only girls players from the area to participate in the game.

Christian has the Orioles flying as the leaders of the North Shore Conference with a 13-1 mark this season. She’s averaging 24.8 points, 9.8 rebounds, 2.9 assists and 2.9 steals this season. The Minnesota recruit also became the 40th player in state history to eclipse 2,000 career points earlier this season.

One-half of the Terrian twins also has Pewaukee where it usually is, atop the Woodland West standings at 13-2 this season. Through 14 games played this season, Amy Terrian is averaging 13.8 points, 4.9 rebounds, 3.3 assists, 2.7 steals and is shooting 47.7% from deep. She also became the program’s all-time leading scorer earlier in the season.

Whitnall caps perfect week after not playing at home for 56 days

The last time Whitnall played a home game, the Green Bay Packers still had seven regular-season games to play.

For the first time since Nov. 19, the Falcons hosted an opponent and extended their winning streak to seven games with a 69-24 rout of Racine Horlick on Tuesday night. The win streak now sits at nine games following a victory over Shorewood on Thursday (93-70) and a 71-21 drubbing of Cudahy on Friday night to improve to 13-1 on the season. The nine-game winning streak is the longest since the 2019-20 season for the Falcons when they won eight straight from Jan. 10 to Feb. 11, 2020. It’s only the second streak of that length since the 2012-13 season in program history.

Along with the perfect week, Riley Ward had a 30-point outing earlier in the week against Shorewood and then scored her 1,000th career point during a 21-point first-half performance in the rout of Cudahy. The Falcons will likely be favored against Brown Deer and Cudahy again next week to extend the win streak before a massive showdown next Friday against Pewaukee.

Wauwatosa East stays unbeaten, only two area undefeated teams left

There’s only two Milwaukee-area teams with zeros in the loss column as the three-day weekend arrives for Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Day on Monday: Wauwatosa East and Bradley Tech/Arts.

The Red Raiders improved to 15-0 with dominant performances against DSHA (69-36) and Brookfield Central (84-49) this week to stay unbeaten, while the Trojans improved to 12-0 with a 59-15 victory over Carmen Northwest on Thursday. Tech raced out to an eye-popping 48-6 halftime advantage and put it in cruise control to remain undefeated.

Tuesday’s win over DSHA marked the seventh time this season the Red Raiders have held an opponent to 40 points or fewer. Emma Close scored a game-high 24 points for Tosa East, while Mikaia Litza flirted with a quadruple-double. Despite a 3-for-11 shooting performance with eight turnovers, Litza still had 8 points, 6 rebounds, 8 assists and 8 steals for the home side.

Other gatherings including some tight title races and a statistical title chase

As the regular season enters the home stretch, you can expect some title races to heat up. The Classic 8 Conference has four teams with a 5-2 mark or better in C8 play this season. Muskego still paces the field with an 8-0 mark after a 55-38 victory over Waukesha West on Friday. Kettle Moraine Lutheran remains the lone unbeaten (6-0) in the East Central Conference title chase with Winneconne on its heels at 5-1. Tosa East sits atop the Greater Metro Conference at 9-0 with Brookfield East (8-1) lurking just behind with one more meeting to go between the two.
Salam sits perfect atop the Lake City Conference at 9-0 with Faith Christian not far behind at 8-2. The Prairie School leads the field in the Metro Classic Conference with Dominican (5-1) and Racine St. Catherine’s (4-2) in hot pursuit. The three-horse race in the Midwest Classic Conference is madness so far, as Lake Country Lutheran (7-0), Watertown Luther Prep (7-1) and Living Word Lutheran (6-1) all still have title hopes. Hartford leads the North Shore Conference, but don’t count out Whitefish Bay (8-1) and Homestead (7-2).
The top of the Southeast Conference has a pair of unbeatens with Oak Creek (6-0) and Kenosha Bradford (5-0). Union Grove leads everyone in the Southern Lakes Conference at 7-0, but Westosha Central lurks with a 6-1 mark. Whitnall (6-0) leads the Woodland East with Greenfield (6-1) right behind, while Pewaukee (7-0) handed Pius XI (5-1) its first loss in Woodland West play this week.
There’s another race around the area and that’s the statewide scoring title chase between Shorewood’s Serinity Metcalfe and Brown Deer’s Ameerah Grant. Both players are averaging at least 38 points per game this season with Metcalfe having a slight 0.3 average advantage (38.3) over Grant. Lakeland wing Kristina Ouimette is the only other player averaging at least 30 points per game this season across the state. Metcalfe has just one game below 30 points this season and four 40-point games, including a 52-point outing against Milwaukee Juneau on Dec. 10. Grant has been just as ridiculous with five 40-point games, including a 50-point performance this past Tuesday on 19-for-30 shooting in a win over St. Augustine Prep.

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Milwaukee, WI

Milwaukee man charged; officer trapped in defendant’s getaway car

Published

1 hour ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Milwaukee man charged; officer trapped in defendant’s getaway car

article

MILWAUKEE – A 26-year-old Milwaukee man is accused of fleeing police during an arrest attempt. An officer who was present to make the arrest ended up being trapped in the backseat of the defendant’s vehicle during an attempt to flee law enforcement. The accused is Kewane Daniels – and he faces the following criminal counts:

First-degree recklessly endangering safety
False imprisonment
Operating a motor vehicle to flee or in an attempt to elude an officer
Second-degree recklessly endangering safety

Property taken, arrest attempt

What we know:

According to the criminal complaint, Milwaukee police reported to the Comfort Suites near 118th and Silver Spring after a caller indicated that “property had been taken from her by the defendant,” the complaint says. The caller indicated location data alerted her that the property was in the hotel parking lot. Daniels also had two warrants for his arrest.

The caller reached out to Daniels to come outside and meet her. Law enforcement were going to assist with arresting Daniels and getting the property back.

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The complaint indicates Daniels approached his car, and an officer followed and positioned himself behind an open rear door. He “drew his service weapon knowing that Daniels was reported to frequently be armed,” the complaint says. The officer ordered Daniels not to place the car in drive, but the complaint says Daniels ignored the orders and “accelerated in reverse in an attempt to flee (the officer).”

Arresting officer trapped in defendant’s vehicle

Dig deeper:

The officer, who was now being forced to back pedal, “realized he could not keep up with the quickly reversing vehicle, and feared he may be overtaken and crushed beneath the auto. (The officer) stated that he had to jump into the open rear passenger’s seat in order to escape the possibility of being knocked down beneath the oncoming vehicle’s door and tires,” the complaint says.

The defendant quickly accelerated out of the hotel parking lot with the officer in the rear seat. The officer “continually ordered him to stop the car,” the complaint says. The officer stated, “Daniels fled at a high rate of speed near 90 mph east on W. Silver Spring Drive while losing control and mounting the curb several times,” the complaint says. During this entire incident, the officer said he “kept his service weapon aimed at Daniels while in the back seat. Due to the speeds and reckless driving, (the officer) could not exit the vehicle,” the complaint says.

The court filing says the officer having his firearm pointed had no effect on Daniels pulling over the vehicle. Later, he put his weapon away to try and convince Daniels that he was not in danger and to pull over the vehicle. Instead, the defendant continued fleeing and driving recklessly, the complaint says.

Defendant bails, car crashes

What we know:

Near 92nd and Birch Avenue in Milwaukee, the complaint says, “Daniels opened the driver’s door and abandoned the vehicle which was still moving at approximately 35 mph.” The officer remained trapped in the rear passenger seat of the driverless vehicle which “came to a stop when it mounted the curb, continued into a front yard, and eventually crashed into a tree,” the complaint says. It is noted that Daniels’ vehicle had the child locks engaged, so the officer was unable to exit the vehicle on his own.

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Officers in other squads quickly located Daniels. The complaint indicates the defendant was “missing footwear in extremely frigid temperatures.” His footwear was recovered in a grassy area near where he was taken into custody.

What’s next:

Online court records indicate Daniels is scheduled to make his initial appearance in Milwaukee County court on Thursday, Jan. 8.

The Source: Information in this post was provided by Wisconsin Circuit Court Access and the criminal complaint associated with this case.

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Milwaukee, WI

Sherman Park Grocery at risk of closing; serves Milwaukee food desert

Published

13 hours ago

January 7, 2026

Press Room

Sherman Park Grocery at risk of closing; serves Milwaukee food desert

MILWAUKEE – A grocery store on Milwaukee’s north side needs your help, or they could close. The Sherman Park Grocery store serves one of 13 federally recognized food deserts in Milwaukee.

What we know:

The grocery store serves one of the most underserved areas of Milwaukee. But in order to stay open, the store owner, Moe Wince, says he needs help.

The store is dealing with a multitude of obstacles – including paying monthly bills, increased food prices, and flood damage.

Sherman Park Grocery Store says it’s the only Black-owned grocery store in the state and serves one of 13 food deserts in Milwaukee.

Food deserts are areas with low income households and poor access to grocery stores.

Sherman Park Grocery Store

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What they’re saying:

“We can’t sustain ourselves. If things do not change, or we don’t start collaborating and getting somebody or an organization or nonprofit or philanthropy group stepping up and saying ‘Mo, this is what it looks like for us, and we want to maintain your store, we want to make sure you sustain yourselves, not just tomorrow, but long term,’” said Mo Wince, Sherman Park Grocery owner.

The store says their goal is to help provide healthier food options to the area.

In an effort to keep their doors open, Sherman Park Grocery is reaching out for help to anyone – including state government, local non-profits, businesses and volunteers.

The Source: This post was produced by FOX6 News.

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Milwaukee, WI

Pregnant Milwaukee mom of 3-year-old dead after arson fire, police say

Published

1 day ago

January 6, 2026

Press Room

Pregnant Milwaukee mom of 3-year-old dead after arson fire, police say

A 22-year-old pregnant Milwaukee woman was found dead in a house fire that was intentionally set, leaving behind a 3-year-old daughter.

The family of Gladys Johnson is heartbroken at their loss. Her death occurred 33 years almost to the day that her brothers died in a fire.

Gladys Johnson was discovered by her mother, Michelle Johnson, following a fire at their residence in the 2800 block of North 26th Street on Jan. 5.

The Milwaukee Police Department said a 21-year-old man has been arrested for arson. Police said the man intentionally brandished a firearm and then started a house on fire.

The man who was arrested is the father of Johnson’s daughter and unborn child, according to Josie Johnson-Smith, Gladys Johnson’s aunt.

Police said Gladys Johnson’s cause of death is officially undetermined and under investigation, but the Milwaukee County Medical Examiner’s Office ruled the death a homicide.

“He took my niece’s life,” Johnson-Smith said. “He threatened to kill her before. That’s why she ended up back with her mom.”

The Journal Sentinel does not typically name suspects unless they’ve been formally charged with a crime.

Gladys Johnson was five months pregnant with a baby boy, according to Johnson-Smith. “She was so happy, teaching her daughter that she was going to be a big sister,” Johnson-Smith said.

Fire-related death reopens old wounds

Gladys Johnson’s death reopens old wounds for her mother, who lost two sons in a bar fire in Milwaukee in 1992.

Milwaukee Journal reporting from the time recalls Terrance Bizzle-Johnson, 4, and Antonio Bizzle-Johnson, 2, being found dead on New Year’s Eve 1992 from smoke inhalation after a fire broke out at a family tavern on the north side of the city.

The Journal’s article details a harrowing rescue attempt by family members, including by Josie Johnson-Smith and Michelle Johnson.

Gladys Johnson was the ‘light in our family’

Gladys Johnson was named after her late grandmother.

“She was the most loving person you ever wanted to meet,” Johnson-Smith said. “Her spirit was a light. If you were in a bad mood, she would cheer you up. She was the light in our family.

“Her daughter is 3 years old and can talk, spell, and say her ABCs. She was a good mom.

“We’re just so devastated right now. He’s seemed like a nice man. So many young women have passed away with domestic situations and it’s just overwhelming.

“The only thing I’d ask the community, to the young women out there that are going through situations similar to my niece, speak out. Don’t be ashamed. You have to tell somebody.”

Gladys’ Johnson’s family started a GoFundMe fundraiser to help cover funeral expenses.

Where to find help for domestic violence

Victim advocates can help with safety planning. Calls to advocates are confidential and do not involve law enforcement.

The National Domestic Violence Hotline is 800-799-7233.
The National Sexual Assault Hotline is 800-656-4673.
End Domestic Abuse Wisconsin has a statewide directory of resources at endabusewi.org/get-help.
Wisconsin Coalition Against Sexual Assault has a statewide directory of resources at wcasa.org/survivors/service-providers.
The Sojourner Family Peace Center in Milwaukee operates a 24-hour confidential hotline at 414-933-2722.
The Milwaukee Women’s Center offers a 24-hour crisis line at 414-671-6140.
We Are Here Milwaukee provides information on culturally specific organizations at weareheremke.org.
Kids Matter Inc. provides free legal services and specialized assistance to individuals caring for children impacted by domestic violence and homicide. Kids Matter can be reached at 414-344-1220 and offers free online resources at kidsmatterinc.org.

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