Friday's Schedule
At Alliant Energy Center, Madison
• 9:05 a.m.: Black Hawk (23-2) vs. Potosi (24-1) in a Division 4 state semfinal - winner plays in championship game at 12:05 p.m. Saturday
• 1:35 p.m.: Monroe (23-2) vs. Grafton (22-2) in a Division 2 state semifinal - winner plays in championship game on Saturday, approximately 30 minutes after the Division 4 title game.
MADISON - Black Hawk coach Mike Flanagan and Monroe coach Kevin Keen are the first to admit that the recipe for their girls basketball teams' success takes more than diagramming a play on a white board or delivering an inspiring halftime speech.
Flanagan and Keen have reached a coaching pinnacle in guiding both Black Hawk and Monroe to the state basketball tournament Friday and Saturday at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
"We have a lot of kids who shoot in the haymows and driveways," Flanagan said. "We don't have a lot of kids who are high profile."
For Keen, the state tournament success has been a driving force.
"Once you get to the state tournament, you have kids that want to work hard to see that happen," Keen said.
Both teams were at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison on Wednesday for a shoot-around practice.
Black Hawk is the smallest school at the state tournament with an enrollment of 157. However, Flanagan thinks it's a stretch to call Black Hawk's state run Hoosier like.
"I don't want to play up the small town thing, because it's been done before," Flanagan said.
Black Hawk (23-2) has knocked on the door of the state tournament the past two years. Flanagan, in his third year coaching, has guided the Warriors to three sectional final games. The Warriors broke through this year after beating Randolph, 44-30, to win the Division 4 Fort Atkinson sectional title.
Black Hawk has a 4-2 record against teams ranked in the top 10 in the state this year when the Warriors played them. The Warriors split with Potosi this year, handing the Chieftans their only loss 41-39, Jan. 20. The two teams meet again in a state semifinal scheduled for a 9:05 a.m. tipoff.
Flanagan doesn't expect the Warriors to have butterflies after their workout Wednesday. Yet, he knows the anxious feeling, and he knows it may be hard to gauge until the tipoff Friday morning.
"I thought I was ready for my wedding day, but when I went up there to say my vows, I wasn't ready at all," he said.
"With their (Potosi's) record of 24-1, we know we are that one," Flanagan said. "How can that not give you confidence?"
Flanagan, who is an English teacher at Monroe Middle School, started coaching seventh-grade girls and eighth-grade boys at the middle school in Monroe. He then coached the Monroe freshman boys basketball team under Pat Murphy.
Keen has coached basketball for 32 of the 35 years he has been in Monroe. He has served as the girls head coach for 21 years. Monroe is making its seventh state tournament appearance since 1988 and is shooting for a third state championship in the past four years. The Cheesemakers are the defending Division 2 champs. They play Grafton in a Division 2 semifinal at 1:35 p.m. Friday.
"No. 1, we have been blessed with a lot of amazing female athletes," Keen said. "We have been very fortunate and blessed."
The love of basketball has been a powerful tool with the YMCA basketball program in Monroe, youth basketball and AAU traveling teams giving players a platform and foundation to perfect their skills.
"That's a tribute to the parents that got that going," Keen said.
Monroe senior Emily Rufenacht and juniors Gwen Sutter and Ashley Hermanson played on the same AAU team last summer. That same nucleus along with the junior class has played AAU basketball together for several years.
"I think that has helped as far as different situations and different competition," Sutter said. "I think that has helped as far as being able to adjust to different situations in the game."
In South Wayne, Flanagan credits a strong work ethic by many of his players who don't play AAU basketball.
"Paige Butler is a good shooter because she takes hundreds and thousands of shots in her driveway with no one watching or cheering," Flanagan said. "They have put in the time to get better, faster and stronger."
Keen also credits assistant coach Sam Mathiason for the Cheesemakers' success. Mathiason served as a head girls basketball coach for Monona Grove before returning to Monroe. When Mathiason was an assistant coach at Monona Grove, the Silver Eagles played Grafton in the state semifinals.
"They (Grafton) have a great tradition," Mathiason said. "It will obviously be a great challenge for us."
With coaches like Keen and Flanagan, the Cheesemakers and Warriors are building their own traditions. Only time will tell if those traditions will grow even more with a state title.
"It's pretty humbling to get here," Flanagan said. "I just keep remembering the number of coaches who have been coaching a long time who haven't had the opportunity."
Flanagan and Keen have reached a coaching pinnacle in guiding both Black Hawk and Monroe to the state basketball tournament Friday and Saturday at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison.
"We have a lot of kids who shoot in the haymows and driveways," Flanagan said. "We don't have a lot of kids who are high profile."
For Keen, the state tournament success has been a driving force.
"Once you get to the state tournament, you have kids that want to work hard to see that happen," Keen said.
Both teams were at the Alliant Energy Center in Madison on Wednesday for a shoot-around practice.
Black Hawk is the smallest school at the state tournament with an enrollment of 157. However, Flanagan thinks it's a stretch to call Black Hawk's state run Hoosier like.
"I don't want to play up the small town thing, because it's been done before," Flanagan said.
Black Hawk (23-2) has knocked on the door of the state tournament the past two years. Flanagan, in his third year coaching, has guided the Warriors to three sectional final games. The Warriors broke through this year after beating Randolph, 44-30, to win the Division 4 Fort Atkinson sectional title.
Black Hawk has a 4-2 record against teams ranked in the top 10 in the state this year when the Warriors played them. The Warriors split with Potosi this year, handing the Chieftans their only loss 41-39, Jan. 20. The two teams meet again in a state semifinal scheduled for a 9:05 a.m. tipoff.
Flanagan doesn't expect the Warriors to have butterflies after their workout Wednesday. Yet, he knows the anxious feeling, and he knows it may be hard to gauge until the tipoff Friday morning.
"I thought I was ready for my wedding day, but when I went up there to say my vows, I wasn't ready at all," he said.
"With their (Potosi's) record of 24-1, we know we are that one," Flanagan said. "How can that not give you confidence?"
Flanagan, who is an English teacher at Monroe Middle School, started coaching seventh-grade girls and eighth-grade boys at the middle school in Monroe. He then coached the Monroe freshman boys basketball team under Pat Murphy.
Keen has coached basketball for 32 of the 35 years he has been in Monroe. He has served as the girls head coach for 21 years. Monroe is making its seventh state tournament appearance since 1988 and is shooting for a third state championship in the past four years. The Cheesemakers are the defending Division 2 champs. They play Grafton in a Division 2 semifinal at 1:35 p.m. Friday.
"No. 1, we have been blessed with a lot of amazing female athletes," Keen said. "We have been very fortunate and blessed."
The love of basketball has been a powerful tool with the YMCA basketball program in Monroe, youth basketball and AAU traveling teams giving players a platform and foundation to perfect their skills.
"That's a tribute to the parents that got that going," Keen said.
Monroe senior Emily Rufenacht and juniors Gwen Sutter and Ashley Hermanson played on the same AAU team last summer. That same nucleus along with the junior class has played AAU basketball together for several years.
"I think that has helped as far as different situations and different competition," Sutter said. "I think that has helped as far as being able to adjust to different situations in the game."
In South Wayne, Flanagan credits a strong work ethic by many of his players who don't play AAU basketball.
"Paige Butler is a good shooter because she takes hundreds and thousands of shots in her driveway with no one watching or cheering," Flanagan said. "They have put in the time to get better, faster and stronger."
Keen also credits assistant coach Sam Mathiason for the Cheesemakers' success. Mathiason served as a head girls basketball coach for Monona Grove before returning to Monroe. When Mathiason was an assistant coach at Monona Grove, the Silver Eagles played Grafton in the state semifinals.
"They (Grafton) have a great tradition," Mathiason said. "It will obviously be a great challenge for us."
With coaches like Keen and Flanagan, the Cheesemakers and Warriors are building their own traditions. Only time will tell if those traditions will grow even more with a state title.
"It's pretty humbling to get here," Flanagan said. "I just keep remembering the number of coaches who have been coaching a long time who haven't had the opportunity."
