DeForest (26-1) advances to the championship final in Division 2 with a 43-42 victory over La Crosse Central (21-6) in the second semifinal Friday afternoon at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

Kayla Goth converted two free throws for the Norskies to knot the score at 42-42. With 2.5 seconds to play in the game, Jordanna Midthun rolled in the second of two free throws to give DeForest a berth in the State title game.

The Norskies used a 17-5 run in the first quarter to open a 19-6 lead, but an 11-2 run in the second quarter narrowed the Red Raiders’ deficit to four at 29-25 at the half.

The Red Raiders took the lead for the first time at 32-31 with 3:58 remaining in the third quarter. The two teams went into the final period tied at 37-37.

Kayla Goth was the scoring leader for the Norskies with 20 points. She also grabbed eight rebounds and blocked seven shots. Jenna Kramer paced the Red Raiders with 16 points, and Brittany Baldwin added 12. 

Defending champion Notre Dame (26-1) will go for its second straight Division 2 championship Saturday following a 50-47 win over Pius XI (24-3) in the semifinals.

The Tritons led throughout the first quarter, but the Lady Popes erased a 13-6 first quarter deficit with an 8-1 run to give them a 14-13 lead, but the Tritons responded with a 10-0 run and led 25-20 at the half.

Notre Dame increased its lead to double-digits at 30-20 with the first five points of the second half. The Lady Popes clawed back to take the lead at 41-39 when Ashley Pitrof hit a three-pointer at the 6:32 mark of the fourth quarter.

With the score tied 43-43, Allison LeClair and Olivia Campbell made consecutive-possession lay-ups to give the Tritons some breathing room, and they connected on 3-of-5 free throws in the final 42 seconds to secure the win.

Olivia Campbell led the Tritons with 14 points. Eliza Campbell and Allison LeClaire each tossed in 12 points. Ashley Pitrof led a balanced scoring attack for Pius XI with nine points. The Tritons had 25-4 advantage on points off of turnovers.