GREEN BAY, Wis. – The finals of the 2023 State Girls Basketball Tournament produced champions in five divisions Saturday at the Resch Center.
In Division 1, third-seeded Kettle Moraine (28-1) won its second consecutive championship with a 47-40 win over top-seeded Brookfield East.
The Lasers never trailed in the game, scoring the game’s first eight points. The closest the Spartans would get the rest of the way was a two-point deficit three different times in the first half.
Grace Grocholski fueled the Lasers with a game-high 24 points. Braelyn Torres was the only other player to score in double figures for Kettle Moraine with 11 points to go with a game-high 10 rebounds and six assists.
Shae Kelley was the only Spartans’ player scoring in double figures with 18 points. The staunch Lasers’ defense held Brookfield East to 28 percent shooting from the field and 14 percent from beyond the three-point arc.
Kettle Moraine has now won three State championship in program’s eight trips to the tournament. Brookfield East (27-3) finishes runner-up in its seventh State experience.
Second-seeded Notre Dame (29-0) completed a perfect season in winning its third straight Division 2 championship with a 64-49 victory in a rematch of last year’s title tilt with top-seeded Pewaukee.
The only time the Tritons’ trailed was at 3-0 to start the game. They erased their deficit with a three-pointer on their next possession to tie the game. They took an 11-point lead with 9:38 remaining in the first half and maintained a double-digit lead the rest of the game. Notre Dame led by as many as 21 points in the second half.
Gracie Grzesk led a balanced scoring attack for the Tritons with 16 points, and Trista Fayta netted 13 points to go with a game-high six assists. Sydney Whitehouse added 12 points, and Peyton Musial chipped in with 10 points and a game-high nine rebounds. The Tritons set a Division 2 State Tournament record by dishing out 37 assist in the two games.
Anna Terrian scored a game-high 19 points for the Pirates. Amy Terrian contributed 12 points and Giselle Janowski added 11.
Notre Dame wins its sixth State championship in its 10th tournament appearance. In its third State experience, Pewaukee (28-2) finishes runner-up for the second season in a row.
Kewaskum (24-5), the third seed in the bracket, won the championship by downing fourth-seeded Milwaukee School of Science 55-51 in the Division 3 title game.
The Indians led for most of the game. The Lady Novas battled back from a pair double-digit deficits in the second half to take one-point leads. However, Kewaskum made 8-of-11 free throws in the final two minutes of the game to clinch the victory.
Julie Steger paced the Indians, scoring a game-high 23 points and grabbing a team-high 10 rebounds. Madi Dogs added 13 points, and Morgan Adams tossed in 11.
The Lady Novas were led by Beautiful Waheed with 16 points and a game-high 12 caroms. Lalani Ellis and Ellis Williams also scored in double figures with 11 points apiece. Ellis led the team defensively with six steals.
Kewaskum wins the program’s first State championship in its third experience in the tournament. Milwaukee Academy of Science (23-4) finishes runner-up in its third appearance.
Second-seeded Laconia (27-3), last year’s runner-up, captured the Division 4 crown with a 64-51 win over top-seeded Aquinas.
Trailing 7-2 to start the game, Reese Keel hit a trio of three-pointers in three successive possessions to give the Spartans an 11-7 advantage, which turned out to be a lead Lomira would not relinquish the remainder of the game. The Spartans led by as many as 20 points at 60-40 with three minutes remaining in the second half.
Keel finished the game with a team-high 16 points. Aubrey Leonard added 15 points, and Payton Morgan contributed with 12. Tierney Madigan led the team on the glass with a game-high 11 rebounds. The Spartans held a commanding 43-24 edge in rebounds in the game.
Macy Donarski led the Blugolds in scoring with 18 points and dished out a Division 4 record-tying 11 assists with four steals. Samantha Davis chipped in with 12 points before fouling out. Aquinas struggled the range from the three-point arc, converting on 4-of-27 attempts.
Laconia wins the program’s first State title in three State appearances. Aquinas finishes runner-up (28-2) in its sixth State experience.
In Division 5, top-seeded McDonell Catholic (26-5) won the title with a 61-46 victory over Blair-Taylor in the championship game.
The Macks never trailed in the game, jumping out to a 7-0 lead. The Wildcats fought back to tie the game at 27-27 early in the second half, but McDonell Catholic went on a 12-2 run midway through the period to open a double-digit lead and take control of the game down the stretch.
Aubrey Dorn led the Macks with a game-high 16 points, and both Marley Hughes and Emily Cooper added 14 points with six and five assists, respectively. The Macks made 23-of-28 free throws in the game compared to no attempts from the charity stripe for the Wildcats.
The Wildcats were led in scoring by Abby Thompson and Lindsay Steien each with 15 points, and they dished out six and five assists, respectively.
McDonell Catholic wins its first State championship in its third appearance in the tournament, and Blair-Taylor (28-2) finishes runner-up in its first-ever State experience.
Complete Results & Boxscores