Howards Grove (27-1) won the Division 4 championship in their second appearance in the State Girls Basketball Tournament Saturday afternoon with a 44-43 victory over previously undefeated Aquinas at the Resch Center in Green Bay.

Aquinas held nine-point leads on a number of occasions in the second half, but could not shake the Tigers, which surged into the lead with under a minute to play by scoring 10 unanswered points to take a 42-40 advantage. Olivia Stauss hit a pair of clutch free throws to give the Tigers a three-point cushion with 10 second remaining to set up a dramatic ending. 

The Blugolds’ Kyah Steiner tossed in a shot from the left wing that was called and determined to be a two-pointer by video review as time expired to end the game.

The Blugolds jumped out to an 8-0 lead to start the game, but he Tigers came back to tie the game at 12-12. Aquinas responded by scoring the next seven points and went on to a 22-17 lead at the half.

Stauss led the Tigers with 16 points, and Samantha Yancy contributed eight points and a game-high 11 rebounds. Aquinas (27-1) was paced in the scoring column by Lexi Donarski with a game-high 23 points. She also dished our four assists and collected four steals in the game.

It was the Tigers’ first State championship. Aquinas finishes runner-up in their first State appearance.