GREEN BAY, Wis. – Five schools won State championships at the 46th State Girls Basketball Tournament Saturday at the Resch Center.
Kettle Moraine (27-3), the top-seed in the Division 1 bracket, won the State crown with a 69-53 win over third-seeded Appleton East (25-5).
The Sabers never trailed in the game. Braelyn Torres converted on a three-pointer for the Lasers to break the scoreless tie at 1:07 into the first half. They went on a 9-0 scoring run later in the first half to build a double-digit lead before the Patriots narrowed the gap to half to cruise to the win. The teams combined to covert 34-of-37 free throws in the game.
Grace Grocholski wasn’t able to be contained, scoring a game-high 34 points on 9-of-14 from the floor and 15-of-16 from the free throw line. She also contributed with a team-high nine rebounds. Torres contributed eight points and a team leading four assists and five steals. Lily Randgaard also scored in double figures with 10 points.
The Patriots were led by Emily LaChapell with 19 points, and Logan Lowry added 17 points and eight rebounds. Sammi Beyer grabbed a team-high nine boards, Lily Hansford doled out a game-high five assists.
It’s the Lasers’ second championship in their seventh State Tournament appearance. They also won the championship in 1999. Appleton East finishes runner-up in its third State experience.
Defending champion and top-seeded Notre Dame (29-1) won the title in Division 2 following a 68-54 win over third-seeded Pewaukee (26-4).
The Tritons trailed 26-25 at intermission but took the lead for good at the 16:28 mark of the second half. They outscored the Pirates 14-3 over the next three and a half minutes fueled by four three-pointers by Trista Fayta during a two-minute stretch of that run. Notre Dame led by as many as 16 points down the stretch, and the Pirates couldn’t close the gap under double digits the rest of the way.
Fayta led all scores with 27 points for the Tritons and led the team with eight rebounds. She also contributed on defense with a game-high five steals. Sarah Hardwick added 17 points, and Sydney Whitehouse chipped in with 13. The Tritons made 6-of-8 three pointers in the game and recorded a 33-18 advantage in rebounds.
The Pirates were led by Amy Terrian with 16 points in addition to dishing out a team-high five assists. Sarah Newcomer also scored in double figures with 14 points to go with four assists.
Notre Dame wins its fifth State Championship in nine State appearances. Pewaukee finishes runner-up, qualifying for the first time in 2020 but unable to play after the State Tournament was canceled because of the COVID-19.
Waupun (27-3), the #1 seed, rolled to the Division 3 championship with a 63-42 triumph over second-seeded Freedom (28-2) in title game.
The Warriors surged to a 14-2 lead and never looked back. The Irish cut a 33-22 halftime deficit to five points in the second half at the 13:45 mark, but Waupun responded with an 11-0 scoring run and led by as many 24 points in the second half.
Abbie Aalsma led all scorers with 22 points for the Warriors. Kayl Petersen also scored in double figures with 15 points. Gaby Matamoros led Waupun on the glass with 10 rebounds, and Gracie Gopalan dished out a game-high six assists.
Megan Alexander was the only Irish player to score in double figures with 11 points to go with a team-leading seven caroms. Sadie Jarmolowicz added nine points to go with a team-leading three assists and four steals.
Waupun wins the program’s first championship in its second State Tournament appearance. Laconia finishes runner-up for the second time in as many experiences.
Top-seeded Mineral Point (30-0) capped an undefeated season at 30-0 by winning the Division 4 championship with a 53-42 win over second-seeded Laconia (25-5) in the final.
The Pointers led the entire game after Blair Watters connected on a three-pointer at 31 seconds into the game. They went a 7-0 run to open a double-digit lead a 12-2. They built their largest lead of 17 at 43-26 midway through the second half.
Ella Chambers scored a game-high 20 points for the Pointers, and Mallory Lindsey added 14. Kennedy Wenger contributed to the Pointers’ cause with a team-high 11 rebounds and six assists.
Molly Johannes recorded a double-double for the Spartans, scoring 11 points with 11 rebounds. Tierney Madigan paced Laconia in scoring with 14 points and added nine rebounds.
The Pointers win their second State championship after finishing runner-up last season. Their first title came in 2016. The Spartans finish runner-up in their second State appearance.
In Division 5, top-seeded Randolph won its first championship with a 47-31 victory over former defending champion and second-seeded Assumption in the championship game.
The Lady Rockets trailed 7-2 to start the game, but went on an 11-0 run to vault to a 13-7 and never trailed the rest of the game. They built their lead to as many as 22 late in the second half.
Maddie DeVries led three scorers in double figures for the Rockets with 11 points. Jorey Buwalda and Abby Katsma each tossed in 10 points. Buwalda also led the team with seven rebounds and five assists. Presley Buwalda led the Lady Rockets defensively with eight steals, which tied a Division 5 record for a game. Her tournament total of 12 steals also ties a division record.
The Royals were led by Ainara Sainz de Rozas with 11 points, she also handed out three assists. Kayla Kerkman chipped in a team-high seven rebounds, six points and three assists.
Randolph completes the season undefeated at 31-0, which marks the most victories in a season for any team winning a State title. Assumption (27-4) finishes runner-up in its seventh State appearance.
In the first year of automated seeding, the top seeded team in every division won the State championship, with higher seeds winning 13 of the 15 games in the tournament.
Complete State Tournmaent Results & Statistics