Small-School Cinderella Candidates

<!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>As we get closer to the postseason, I want to highlight some large and small school Cinderalla team candidates.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Athens</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>In their sectional in D5, the Fighting Bluejays have every reason to believe they can get to the Resch Center, even without [player_tooltip player_id='849573' first='Addison' last='Lavicka'] all year. Sophia Coker has been excellent all season and has used her length and athleticism to make plays around the basket on both ends of the floor. The toughest matchup of the sectional would be in a potential Regional Final against Pacelli, who's been on a tear all year, but if they come out of that game with a win, they're good enough to win two sectional games to get to state.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Columbus</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>The recent past has seen Columbus knock out perennial favorites Prairie du Chien, led by current Wisconsin Badger Lily Krahn, two years ago. I like the Cardinals in a potential Regional Final against No. 3 Lake Country Lutheran. [player_tooltip player_id='329560' first='Madison' last='Ehlenbach'] is a talented scorer on the wing for the Cardinals, and she's skilled enough to make some game-altering plays on the road against a higher-seeded team. I'm weary of them in a possible sectional game, but the 6-seeded Cardinals could get out of regionals again.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Poynette</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>There are two reasons I like the Pumas in their Regional. For one, they have the best player in the sectional, 2027 wing, [player_tooltip player_id='751244' first='Avalyn' last='Albrecht']. Two, they got a solid draw with Living Word Lutheran as the No. 1 in their subsection and have a 4-seed, so they'd see the Timberwolves for a Regional Plaque and a spot in Sectionals. There's every chance in the world that Albrecht makes a statement this postseason and leads the Pumas on a deep run this February and March.</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p><strong>Brodhead</strong></p> <!-- /wp:paragraph --> <!-- wp:paragraph --> <p>Two years ago, an untimely injury to Abbie Dix ruined a promising postseason run in the Regional Finals, but this is a new group with some young pieces that will give the Cardinals a shot to make some noise. Senior [player_tooltip player_id='368845' first='Addison' last='Yates'] has grown into a fine small-school player and has physically matured over the past two seasons, which has helped her jumper become a more consistent weapon. Most importantly, sophomore [player_tooltip player_id='509483' first='Allie' last='Dahl'] has developed into an outstanding player for Brodhead. She brings the creative qualities that even some of the best Brodhead teams in recent memory never had to that level. Dahl makes this group more dangerous than you'd expect.&nbsp;</p> <!-- /wp:paragraph -->