ASHWAUBENON - The Black Hawk girls basketball team entered the WIAA Division 5 state tournament as the best shooting 3-point team in the field.
In the end, Black Hawk's 3-point shooting went awry, and Bangor knocked off the Warriors 39-29 in a WIAA Division 5 state championship game Saturday at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Black Hawk shot three of 31 on 3-pointers (9.7 percent) and finished the game 19.4 percent shooting overall (12 of 62).
"Obviously the thing that stands out to everybody that was in that stadium was the shooting was obviously an issue," Black Hawk coach Mike Flanagan said. "After having a year where we shot the ball so well, we just didn't get it done. I shouldn't have opened my big trap when I said we couldn't shoot it any worse than we did yesterday, because we obviously did. I don't know what to attribute it to. Is it nerves? Is it more of the moment being a little more than we can handle? I know it wasn't lack of preparation or taking anything for granted.
"We needed to hit some shots. To Bangor's credit, they shot the ball well from the perimeter. Over the course of the season it hasn't been as much their M.O. as ours. It was their day and not ours."
The game set a Division 5 state record as the lowest combined scoring title game, and the Warriors (28-1) were one point away from tying the lowest score by a losing team in the championship game. It broke the previous record for lowest scoring state title game with only 68 total points - previously, the record was 72 when Barneveld beat Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 38-34 in 2014. Black Hawk broke the Division 5 state record for the most steals in a tournament with 32 (19 on Friday and 13 Saturday). Assumption had 31 in 2015.
Black Hawk sophomore Hannah Butler scored a team-high 8 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had three steals. Freshman teammate Bailey Butler had 8 points, and sophomore Natalie Leuzinger added 6 points and had eight rebounds.
"I will probably remember my teammates the most," Leuzinger said. "This was one year that was really special. The seniors, we wanted to get to the state championship for them. We did. We played the longest season that anyone could possibly get to for them. This state experience was probably the best. It was one of my goals to get here. I finally got to make it a reality. We just didn't end it the way I was hoping for."
Black Hawk got off to a rocky start. Bangor (26-3) jumped out to a 9-3 lead after senior Elizabeth Nicolai knocked down a jumper with 11:19 left in the first half. The Warriors were one of 13 shooting in the first 9:22 in the first half.
The Warriors struggled to finish shots at the rim and in the lane against Bangor 6-foot-2 senior Emma Wittmershaus.
"They are just long," Flanagan said. "You certainly couldn't stop attacking the rim when the perimeters weren't going. We need to find a way to get a finish or draw enough contact so the whistle gets blown. We just weren't able to do that. I thought our kids were making the right reads, getting to the right spots, and I thought we stayed aggressive for the most part. We are small of stature. No one doubts that. Their length at the rim definitely made it tough for us to score inside."
Wittmershaus, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee recruit, scored a team-high 9 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks.
"I'm just so lost for words right now," Wittmershaus said. "This is honestly one of the best days in my life. I think we can all agree on that. It's crazy in the locker room right now, and they have the right to feel that way."
Bangor senior Ariana Hundt drilled a 3-pointer with 54 seconds to go in the first half to give the Cardinals a 20-11 lead at the break. The Warriors shot 15.4 percent in the first half (4 of 26).
In their second straight state appearance, Bangor was on a mission. The team's coach, Merlin Jones, lauded his team and a senior class that has won 100 career games.
"Yesterday (Friday) was a little relief when I was sitting here and I heard the girls say we got back here and did what we wanted to do to get a silver or gold ball and we'd be content either way," Jones said Saturday. Bangor won its state semifinal game over Clayton 57-54 on Friday. "But when I woke up this morning, I said, 'We didn't come here for a silver, we came here for a gold.' We got it done."
It was clear Bangor wanted to keep Black Hawk from getting into the lane.
"We came into the game making sure we pinched on all of their dribble drives," Jones said. "The girls played extremely hard in doing that. I thought our defense is really what kept us in the game. We talk about the dribble drive from them and the kick to their shooters out there and closing hard making the next girl attack. Our girls were moving their feet and pinching the dribble drive. We knew they were a perimeter shooting team. For the whole season, they have been. To limit them to three-for-31 from the 3-point line is just phenomenal for us."
Despite the first half shooting struggles, Leuzinger and the Warriors remained confident.
"We knew we would eventually knock them down," Leuzinger said. "We are going to have games like this. We just have to keep playing like we usually play and they will eventually go down. We will look to attack and hopefully draw two defenders and then kick it out to the open player."
Black Hawk forced the Cardinals into 28 turnovers in the game, but the Warriors scored just 10 points off the turnovers. The Warriors had 16 offensive rebounds compared to just seven for the Cardinals. However, Black Hawk only scored 6 second-chance points despite the offensive rebounding prowess.
"When we were able to create the turnovers, we just weren't able to capitalize," Flanagan said. "The 3s we took from the perimeter - a lot of them were in time, in rhythm and really really open. They were certainly no worse looks than Bangor got. Their kids knocked them down, and we left them unfinished."
Wittmershaus drilled a 3-pointer to start the second half that gave the Cardinals their largest lead at 12 points, 23-11. Black Hawk did not go away quietly despite Leuzinger and Bailey Butler both in foul trouble before they fouled out.
Bangor senior Jaclynn Freit added 5 points and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds.
Black Hawk sophomore Maddy Huschitt hit a jumper to slice the Cardinals' lead to 27-24 with 6:33 left. Senior teammate Brianna Hagen drilled a game-tying 3-pointer at 27 with 5:33 to go. That's as close as the Warriors would get. Bangor closed the game with a 12-2 run.
The Warriors were forced to foul late in the game, but Bangor went through a stretch where they made just two of eight free throws and struggled to slam the door on the Warriors. The Cardinals made seven of 15 free throws over the final three minutes to seal the win.
"I wish we would have got the gold," Hannah Butler said. "It is what it is. It was just very unfortunate."
It marked the final game of Black Hawk senior Hannah Herbst's prep career.
"I'm just excited because I got to go as far as any team can go in the state of Wisconsin," Herbst said. "I wish we could have got the gold instead of the silver. I just feel like in the end it was going to be which team made more shots. Bangor just made more shots."
Herbst will miss her time with her friends on the basketball team.
"The girls on this team are like my family," Herbst said. "If something didn't go right, I knew I had my basketball family to fall back on."
In the end, Black Hawk's 3-point shooting went awry, and Bangor knocked off the Warriors 39-29 in a WIAA Division 5 state championship game Saturday at the Resch Center in Green Bay. Black Hawk shot three of 31 on 3-pointers (9.7 percent) and finished the game 19.4 percent shooting overall (12 of 62).
"Obviously the thing that stands out to everybody that was in that stadium was the shooting was obviously an issue," Black Hawk coach Mike Flanagan said. "After having a year where we shot the ball so well, we just didn't get it done. I shouldn't have opened my big trap when I said we couldn't shoot it any worse than we did yesterday, because we obviously did. I don't know what to attribute it to. Is it nerves? Is it more of the moment being a little more than we can handle? I know it wasn't lack of preparation or taking anything for granted.
"We needed to hit some shots. To Bangor's credit, they shot the ball well from the perimeter. Over the course of the season it hasn't been as much their M.O. as ours. It was their day and not ours."
The game set a Division 5 state record as the lowest combined scoring title game, and the Warriors (28-1) were one point away from tying the lowest score by a losing team in the championship game. It broke the previous record for lowest scoring state title game with only 68 total points - previously, the record was 72 when Barneveld beat Wisconsin Rapids Assumption 38-34 in 2014. Black Hawk broke the Division 5 state record for the most steals in a tournament with 32 (19 on Friday and 13 Saturday). Assumption had 31 in 2015.
Black Hawk sophomore Hannah Butler scored a team-high 8 points, grabbed seven rebounds and had three steals. Freshman teammate Bailey Butler had 8 points, and sophomore Natalie Leuzinger added 6 points and had eight rebounds.
"I will probably remember my teammates the most," Leuzinger said. "This was one year that was really special. The seniors, we wanted to get to the state championship for them. We did. We played the longest season that anyone could possibly get to for them. This state experience was probably the best. It was one of my goals to get here. I finally got to make it a reality. We just didn't end it the way I was hoping for."
Black Hawk got off to a rocky start. Bangor (26-3) jumped out to a 9-3 lead after senior Elizabeth Nicolai knocked down a jumper with 11:19 left in the first half. The Warriors were one of 13 shooting in the first 9:22 in the first half.
The Warriors struggled to finish shots at the rim and in the lane against Bangor 6-foot-2 senior Emma Wittmershaus.
"They are just long," Flanagan said. "You certainly couldn't stop attacking the rim when the perimeters weren't going. We need to find a way to get a finish or draw enough contact so the whistle gets blown. We just weren't able to do that. I thought our kids were making the right reads, getting to the right spots, and I thought we stayed aggressive for the most part. We are small of stature. No one doubts that. Their length at the rim definitely made it tough for us to score inside."
Wittmershaus, a University of Wisconsin-Milwaukee recruit, scored a team-high 9 points, grabbed nine rebounds and had three blocks.
"I'm just so lost for words right now," Wittmershaus said. "This is honestly one of the best days in my life. I think we can all agree on that. It's crazy in the locker room right now, and they have the right to feel that way."
Bangor senior Ariana Hundt drilled a 3-pointer with 54 seconds to go in the first half to give the Cardinals a 20-11 lead at the break. The Warriors shot 15.4 percent in the first half (4 of 26).
In their second straight state appearance, Bangor was on a mission. The team's coach, Merlin Jones, lauded his team and a senior class that has won 100 career games.
"Yesterday (Friday) was a little relief when I was sitting here and I heard the girls say we got back here and did what we wanted to do to get a silver or gold ball and we'd be content either way," Jones said Saturday. Bangor won its state semifinal game over Clayton 57-54 on Friday. "But when I woke up this morning, I said, 'We didn't come here for a silver, we came here for a gold.' We got it done."
It was clear Bangor wanted to keep Black Hawk from getting into the lane.
"We came into the game making sure we pinched on all of their dribble drives," Jones said. "The girls played extremely hard in doing that. I thought our defense is really what kept us in the game. We talk about the dribble drive from them and the kick to their shooters out there and closing hard making the next girl attack. Our girls were moving their feet and pinching the dribble drive. We knew they were a perimeter shooting team. For the whole season, they have been. To limit them to three-for-31 from the 3-point line is just phenomenal for us."
Despite the first half shooting struggles, Leuzinger and the Warriors remained confident.
"We knew we would eventually knock them down," Leuzinger said. "We are going to have games like this. We just have to keep playing like we usually play and they will eventually go down. We will look to attack and hopefully draw two defenders and then kick it out to the open player."
Black Hawk forced the Cardinals into 28 turnovers in the game, but the Warriors scored just 10 points off the turnovers. The Warriors had 16 offensive rebounds compared to just seven for the Cardinals. However, Black Hawk only scored 6 second-chance points despite the offensive rebounding prowess.
"When we were able to create the turnovers, we just weren't able to capitalize," Flanagan said. "The 3s we took from the perimeter - a lot of them were in time, in rhythm and really really open. They were certainly no worse looks than Bangor got. Their kids knocked them down, and we left them unfinished."
Wittmershaus drilled a 3-pointer to start the second half that gave the Cardinals their largest lead at 12 points, 23-11. Black Hawk did not go away quietly despite Leuzinger and Bailey Butler both in foul trouble before they fouled out.
Bangor senior Jaclynn Freit added 5 points and grabbed a team-high 15 rebounds.
Black Hawk sophomore Maddy Huschitt hit a jumper to slice the Cardinals' lead to 27-24 with 6:33 left. Senior teammate Brianna Hagen drilled a game-tying 3-pointer at 27 with 5:33 to go. That's as close as the Warriors would get. Bangor closed the game with a 12-2 run.
The Warriors were forced to foul late in the game, but Bangor went through a stretch where they made just two of eight free throws and struggled to slam the door on the Warriors. The Cardinals made seven of 15 free throws over the final three minutes to seal the win.
"I wish we would have got the gold," Hannah Butler said. "It is what it is. It was just very unfortunate."
It marked the final game of Black Hawk senior Hannah Herbst's prep career.
"I'm just excited because I got to go as far as any team can go in the state of Wisconsin," Herbst said. "I wish we could have got the gold instead of the silver. I just feel like in the end it was going to be which team made more shots. Bangor just made more shots."
Herbst will miss her time with her friends on the basketball team.
"The girls on this team are like my family," Herbst said. "If something didn't go right, I knew I had my basketball family to fall back on."
