FORT ATKINSON - The sour finish to Brodhead's best-ever season won't dim the bright future of the youthful Cardinals.
East Troy used a swarming defense and Brodhead's cold first-half shooting to post a 58-37 victory in a WIAA Division 3 girls sectional semifinal Thursday night.
The Cardinals (21-4) trailed by four points midway through the first quarter before East Troy (23-2) blew the game open as guards Alicia Olson, Andrea Olsen and Rachel Atkinson repeatedly scored in transition to spark the Trojans to an
18-point halftime advantage.
"We settled for jump shots," Brodhead coach Brad Pickett said. "When they don't go in you get long rebounds - and we weren't able to get back.
"Basically, we were jogging and they were sprinting. They're so good at what they do."
Brodhead's last basket of the first half came at the 2:05 mark of the first quarter. At that point East Troy led 17-10. The Cardinals didn't score again until a free throw by Rachel Heller with 1:53 left in the first half. Heller hit two more free throws late in the quarter, but overall Brodhead didn't make a field goal for more than 10 minutes to end the first half.
East Troy led 21-10 after the first quarter and had a 31-13 halftime advantage.
"Once they got the 18-point lead, then spaced the court, it's tough to come back," Pickett said.
The Trojans scored most of their points in transition as Brodhead was effective in its half-court defense. But the Cardinals had no answer to the much quicker Trojans.
Brodhead held guard Breanna Gaspervich, the Trojans' leading scorer who averages 20 points per game, to eight points. But the Cardinals couldn't stop the other three guards. Atchison finished with a game-high 17 points, Oleson had 14 and Olsen 11. East Troy starts fours guards, with the tallest at 5-7.
"We share the ball really well," East Troy coach Jeff Brown said. "If you stop one (of the four guards), you can't stop the other three. My guards are very quick.
"When we run, we're pretty good."
Brodhead won seven straight after leading scorer Carly Mohns, a 6-1 sophomore, went down with a knee injury on Feb. 7 in a loss to Whitewater. Despite losing Mohns, who averaged 15.6 points and 11.3 rebounds, the Cardinals won the Rock Valley South Conference championship with a 14-2 record. Taylor Douglas, a 5-9 junior, averaged nearly 20 points after Mohns went down.
Mohns suited up for the game wearing a knee brace. But she didn't enter the game until the final seconds, scoring on a putback of her own miss with 5.5 seconds left.
"She made it look like we should have played her the whole game," Pickett said. "But we can't take that chance."
Douglas scored 12 points to lead the Cardinals, including 10 in the second half. Rachel Heller scored nine points and Meg Duffield and Amanda Pickel added six each.
"We've been through everything this year," Douglas said. "I'm still proud of our team and proud to be a part of Brodhead basketball."
Pickett agreed.
"It's going to hurt a little bit tonight," he said. "But we lost to a very good team. We have a lot to be proud of."
With no seniors on this year's team, Brodhead indeed has a bright future.
East Troy used a swarming defense and Brodhead's cold first-half shooting to post a 58-37 victory in a WIAA Division 3 girls sectional semifinal Thursday night.
The Cardinals (21-4) trailed by four points midway through the first quarter before East Troy (23-2) blew the game open as guards Alicia Olson, Andrea Olsen and Rachel Atkinson repeatedly scored in transition to spark the Trojans to an
18-point halftime advantage.
"We settled for jump shots," Brodhead coach Brad Pickett said. "When they don't go in you get long rebounds - and we weren't able to get back.
"Basically, we were jogging and they were sprinting. They're so good at what they do."
Brodhead's last basket of the first half came at the 2:05 mark of the first quarter. At that point East Troy led 17-10. The Cardinals didn't score again until a free throw by Rachel Heller with 1:53 left in the first half. Heller hit two more free throws late in the quarter, but overall Brodhead didn't make a field goal for more than 10 minutes to end the first half.
East Troy led 21-10 after the first quarter and had a 31-13 halftime advantage.
"Once they got the 18-point lead, then spaced the court, it's tough to come back," Pickett said.
The Trojans scored most of their points in transition as Brodhead was effective in its half-court defense. But the Cardinals had no answer to the much quicker Trojans.
Brodhead held guard Breanna Gaspervich, the Trojans' leading scorer who averages 20 points per game, to eight points. But the Cardinals couldn't stop the other three guards. Atchison finished with a game-high 17 points, Oleson had 14 and Olsen 11. East Troy starts fours guards, with the tallest at 5-7.
"We share the ball really well," East Troy coach Jeff Brown said. "If you stop one (of the four guards), you can't stop the other three. My guards are very quick.
"When we run, we're pretty good."
Brodhead won seven straight after leading scorer Carly Mohns, a 6-1 sophomore, went down with a knee injury on Feb. 7 in a loss to Whitewater. Despite losing Mohns, who averaged 15.6 points and 11.3 rebounds, the Cardinals won the Rock Valley South Conference championship with a 14-2 record. Taylor Douglas, a 5-9 junior, averaged nearly 20 points after Mohns went down.
Mohns suited up for the game wearing a knee brace. But she didn't enter the game until the final seconds, scoring on a putback of her own miss with 5.5 seconds left.
"She made it look like we should have played her the whole game," Pickett said. "But we can't take that chance."
Douglas scored 12 points to lead the Cardinals, including 10 in the second half. Rachel Heller scored nine points and Meg Duffield and Amanda Pickel added six each.
"We've been through everything this year," Douglas said. "I'm still proud of our team and proud to be a part of Brodhead basketball."
Pickett agreed.
"It's going to hurt a little bit tonight," he said. "But we lost to a very good team. We have a lot to be proud of."
With no seniors on this year's team, Brodhead indeed has a bright future.
