State Tournament Day 2 Recap

<h2>Division 5</h2> <h2>Randolph 47, Highland 25</h2> Randolph The Rockets ran into some issues with fouls, mainly with [player_tooltip player_id="264942" first="Jorey" last="Buwalda"]. So instead of Buwalda showing out, the supporting cast had a great day. Abby Katsma knocked down a couple of back-breaking 3’s and finished with 10 points. Forward Maddie DeVries also had an excellent night, leading the Rockets in scoring with 13 points and grabbing six rebounds. When Buwalda is on the floor, the Rockets are tough to defend because she can score, pass, and screen. When she’s off the floor, the Rockets look mortal. Highland The Cardinals had a rough time scoring. Nothing went the Cardinals’ way. They even hit a 3-pointer that got erased because a Randolph player ran over a Cardinal screening for the shooter. I can’t say that I got a great deal from them because they were so far out of it, so quickly. They showed a ton of fight to get back into it, but it just wasn’t their day. <h2>Assumption 36, McDonell Central Catholic 35</h2> Assumption Freshman Sarah Shaw was the highlight for the Royals, in my opinion. I doubt she ever played in an environment like the Resch Center before yesterday, but she looked as comfortable as ever. [player_tooltip player_id="262975" first="Ainara" last="Sainz de Rozas"] was solid enough with the ball keeping everything organized. Anna Schooley led the Royals in points and rebounds with 10 points and seven rebounds. They hit a massive drought in the second half that almost led to them losing, but they stayed composed and went ahead with around 40 seconds to go and didn’t look back. McDonell Central Catholic First and foremost, I hope Lauryn Deetz is doing alright. The Macks’ leading scorer went down with an apparent right knee injury that limited her second-half minutes. [player_tooltip player_id="209585" first="Emily" last="Cooper"] didn’t shoot well today, but she affected everything else positively. Cooper had ten rebounds, four assists, and five steals. Marley Hughes brought a sense of calm to the Mack’s yesterday morning. When she shoots the ball, everyone associated with the Macks looks like they already know it’s going in, and they have good reason to think that way. DIVISION 5 STATE PREVIEW: Randolph vs. Assumption [player_tooltip player_id="264942" first="Jorey" last="Buwalda"] will be the key to this game. If she plays how she’s capable of playing, I don’t see how the Rockets don’t win this one. However, crazier things have happened. I was impressed with Anna Schooley’s work yesterday, but she’ll have even more on her plate today. <h2>Division 2</h2> <h2>Notre Dame 64, Menomonie 45</h2> Notre Dame The Tritons started slowly but grew into the game. Early on, [player_tooltip player_id="209880" first="Gracie" last="Grzesk"] was unstopable. However, Grzesk got into foul trouble, which limited her aggression and second-half minutes. However, Grzesk’s extended absence meant more minutes for talented freshman [player_tooltip player_id="338948" first="Peyton" last="Musial"], who thrived in the time she had on the floor. The 5-foot-11 guard showed her ability to use the threat of her shooting to attack and get into her floater game. Musial also passes at a high level. She fizzed a pass to cutting [player_tooltip player_id="157533" first="Hope" last="Barington"] that raised my eyebrows early in the second half. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="209879" first="Trista" last="Fayta"] was also incredible in the most silent way possible because I don’t remember her 12 points, seven rebounds, or five assists. Awesome all-around game from the Tritons. Menomonie I got to see this Mustangs’ team in the Beaver Dam Classic against South Milwaukee, and they’ve come a long way since then. For starters, the Mustangs’ played with desperation out of the gate. They were rewarded by leading early. However, as their fouls mounted, the aggression they played with slowly dissipated. [player_tooltip player_id="262991" first="Emma" last="Mommsen"] was insane when she was on the floor, earning eight blocks and dominating in the paint. [player_tooltip player_id="329548" first="Mary" last="Berg"] had the entire building on the edge of their seat when she would shoot a 3-pointer, and [player_tooltip player_id="342359" first="Sam" last="Jacobsen"] showed her will to attack the basket. Although they lost by 19 points, that doesn’t come close to telling the story of how well the Mustangs played. Pewaukee 73, Reedsburg 43 Pewaukee [player_tooltip player_id="374229" first="Amy" last="Terrian"] may have had the best state tournament debut of all time. Terrian ended with 31 points on some ridiculous efficiency. The freshman shot 9 for 15 from the field, three of six on her 3-point attempts, and 10 for 11 from the free-throw line. I don’t even have anything else to add. I feel like you can see how absurd her performance was today. [player_tooltip player_id="263007" first="Megan" last="Zielsdorf"] was incredibly active around the basket. Senior [player_tooltip player_id="347169" first="Lia" last="Chudzik"] showed how much effort she plays with as a shorter guard. Chudzik led the game with 13 rebounds and added five assists. Twice in this game, the most aesthetically pleasing thing happened, a backdoor cut from Anna Terrian, who got a pass on the money from [player_tooltip player_id="374229" first="Amy" last="Terrian"], so the Pirates had a little bit of everything. Reedsburg Winning a state title is incredibly difficult, and I think sometimes people forget that. [player_tooltip player_id="132374" first="Mahra" last="Wieman"], [player_tooltip player_id="204158" first="Macie" last="Wieman"], [player_tooltip player_id="132388" first="Trenna" last="Cherney"], [player_tooltip player_id="204145" first="Grace" last="Benish"], and McKenzie Bestor are uber-talented kids who led their team to one of the most dominant seasons, likely of all time. They beat every team they saw before last by double digits, besides Germantown, who they beat by nine. Their legacy in Reedsburg school history was set long before last night. However, in 29 games, one is likely to be a game where you don’t have it, and it sucks for them that it came when it did. Sophomore [player_tooltip player_id="209900" first="Sydney" last="Cherney"] was excellent last (17 points and 12 rebounds), and the only underclass player on this roster will have almost an entirely new rotation to play with next season. DIVISION 2 STATE PREVIEW: Pewaukee vs. Notre Dame Notre Dame is a well-drilled defensive team, and I’m betting they’ll play better defensively than they did last night. Pewaukee has been on another planet offensively recently, and if they shoot over 50% from the field and nearly 50% from behind the 3-point line, they’ll like their chances. A little bit of a good bookend for these two, they began the season playing against each other in Brown County, and they’ll finish the season playing against each other in Brown County. <h2>Divison 1</h2> <h2>Kettle Moraine 66, De Pere 47</h2> Kettle Moraine The Lasers have pretty much dominated all year. I was surprised that they beat this De Pere team the way they did. Before the Redbirds got on the board, it was already 13-0 Kettle Moraine. It was a wire-to-wire win. [player_tooltip player_id="156076" first="Braelyn" last="Torres"] showed on the biggest stage that she’s on the same level as these other high-level prospects in Wisconsin. Torres finished with 15 points, six rebounds, and six assists. There wasn’t a thing I could poke at that wasn’t good from her today. She was elite. [player_tooltip player_id="204131" first="Lily" last="Randgaard"] was equally as good for Kettle Moraine. The future Leatherneck finished with 17 points, six rebounds, and four assists. Unreal production from these two today. De Pere I don’t care that the Redbirds lost today. De Pere proved a lot to not just me but everyone. If someone told me the Redbirds would beat Germantown after losing to them by 39, I would’ve laughed. This Redbirds team is the most mentally tough team I know. [player_tooltip player_id="209605" first="Claire" last="Bjorge"] is at the heart of that, in my opinion. Even after that rough game against Germantown, I’ll remember the way she came back the next day and played as well as I’ve ever seen her play against Pewaukee. Even McKenna Ciesielczyk defensively against KK Arnold did as good a job as I’ve seen from anyone. [player_tooltip player_id="132373" first="Jordan" last="Meulemans"] was also crucial to all of this, being one of the best scorers in Wisconsin. Even though I only saw this team get beat pretty handily in person twice, I’ll remember how mentally tough this group was. [player_tooltip player_id="209605" first="Claire" last="Bjorge"] will carry on what this team was at its core for the next two years. <h2>Appleton East 44, Brookfield East 40</h2> Appleton East Not once has this group gotten into the rock fight it did before last night. I haven’t seen this team as frustrated as it was last night. There was a long stretch where the Patriots didn’t score in the first half. Even when they’ve lost, it was never like it was last night. Emily LaChapell didn’t have the best night of her life, but she found ways to score to keep the Patriots ahead and get to the free-throw line. I didn’t know if the Patriots could stay zeroed in at times in this game, but they always found a way to keep their nose in front. Brookfield East There is no way every Spartan isn’t kicking themselves right now. They missed a handful of layups early on and missed chances to go ahead late. However, I want to talk about how good this team was. [player_tooltip player_id="156077" first="Annika" last="Pluemer"] had a frustrating night shooting, but you’ll never fault her effort. She looked a Power 5 recruit directly in the face and went right at her every time. Pluemer also fought against kids almost a quarter of a foot taller than her to grab six rebounds, which limited the Patriots to just one shot per possession. Pluemer is good enough to play Division 1 basketball, in my opinion. Her backcourt teammate [player_tooltip player_id="266987" first="Shae" last="Kelley"] was frustrating on the offensive end and the best defensive player I’ve ever seen. To get the bad out of the way, she missed a few shots that no doubt she’d like to have back. That said, after last night, I know she’ll come back better next season on that end. Now her defense. Someone will have to show me a better defensive prospect in the country, and that’s not hyperbole. I genuinely want to see one because I don’t believe a better one exists. Before Kelley moved on to LaChapell, she was going crazy, scoring 12 quick points in the first few minutes. After that, she had eight. Kelley frustrated one of the best players in the state. I could go on for another 3,000 words about what she did last night, but I’ll save that for another time. DIVISION 1 STATE PREVIEW: Appleton East vs. De Pere Expect a very uptempo game. Kettle Moraine likes to press and create quick transition opportunities, and Appleton East breaks presses to get easy looks. The Lasers won’t come out of that press. If it works early, they keep doing to extend a lead. If it doesn’t work, they’ll keep doing it to get back in the game. The Patriots have good ball-handlers, so keep an eye on the Lasers getting into foul trouble because they get too aggressive.