Neillsville (27-0) returns to the title game for the first time since winning the Division 4 championship in 2012 following its 51-43 overtime win over previously undefeated Brodhead (26-1) in the semifinals Thursday morning at the Kohl Center in Green Bay.
Jenny Lindner coolly converted all 10 of her free throw attempts in overtime to lead the Warriors to victory. She set a Division 3 record for free throws made and attempted in a game, hitting 18-of-19 attempts from the charity stripe. She converted her final, which also sets a record. She led all scorers with 33 points and grabbed 11 rebounds.
Both teams had the ball with a chance to score and win the game in the last 17 seconds of regulation, but neither of the shots found the mark.
The game experienced 11 ties changes and 14 lead changes. The first half was tightly contested throughout with neither team possessing a lead greater than six points. The Warriors led by five at 10-5 in the first quarter.
Brodhead fought back to tie the game and eventually take the largest lead of the half in the second quarter at 22-16. The Warriors scored the next six points to tie the game and took a 27-25 halftime lead.
Meg Duffield led a balanced scoring attack for Brodhead with 12 points, Rachel Heller and Carly Mohn chipped in with 10 apiece. Mohns also recorded a game-high 13 rebounds.
Kettle Moraine Lutheran (26-1) will appear in the title game in its first State Tournament appearance by virtue of a 64-41 win over Oconto Falls (22-4) in the early Division 3 semifinal.
Three possessions, and a minute and a half into the game, the Chargers led 9-0. Sharla Boehlke opened the scoring with a 3-pointer, and Mikayla Voigt followed with two consecutive shots beyond the arc to give the Chargers early lead.
The Panthers were held scoreless during a 6:32 stretch of the first half to fall behind 23-6 early in the second quarter. The Chargers converted easy opportunities inside the paint in the first half. They shot a blistering 65 percent from the field to take a 34-21 lead to the locker room at the half.
McKenna Larsen did all she could to bring the Panthers back in the second half, scoring all nine of their points in the third quarter. However, the Chargers used a 7-0 spurt at the end of the third quarter to vault to a 48-30 lead.
Larsen led all scorers with 31 points for the Panthers. The Chargers were led in scoring by Andrea Meinert and Mikayla Voigt with 19 points each.
Neillsville and Kettle Moraine Lutheran will play for the Division 3 title Saturday at 2:30 p.m. at the Resch Center.