ALBANY — While the Comets came up short in the sectional final, there was very little to hang their heads on. The only three losses for Albany this season came to Black Hawk, which has just two losses in five seasons, both to nonconference schools in the postseason.
In order to make it to the sectional final against Black Hawk, the Comets ousted Rio 56-48 at home Feb. 18. It was just the second time in school history the program reached the sectional finals. Twenty years ago, in 2001, the Comets lost by four to Randolph in the Division 4 sectional championship.
“It’s amazing. The hours that parents and the players have put in; the meals and the driving; myself and the assistant coaches, the time that you put in … it just all kind of came to fruition in those final 10 seconds,” said Doescher, who moments earlier on the court let his joyous emotions out in celebration on the sidelines. “This is what it’s about — to see the girls smiling and to see them excited and to see their efforts pay off.”
Rio (13-7) fell behind big early on, with Albany jumping out to a 17-2 lead 9 minutes into the game. The Vikings closed on a 19-12 run to trail by 8 at halftime.
“We knew coming in here it would be an absolute war,” Doescher said. “Their six losses are very deceiving based on who they’ve played.”
Rio entered the game with three players averaging double figured, and all three met their marks against the Comets. Speedy senior forward Adeline Hutzler scored 8 points in the first half and 19 in the game. Sophomore forward Emily Loging had 10 in the first half and 14 overall, and junior guard Kayla Staveness scored 8 of her 11 points in the second half.
“It was really fun, for sure,” Dahl said of playing Rio. “It means the world (to win at sectionals). You dream about this as a little kid, but then once it becomes reality, it’s like ‘woah.’ It’s doesn’t really kick in right away. It’s the furthest we’ve gone in a long time, so that’s just really cool to think about.”
For the Comets, well, they had Six Rivers East all-conference guard Dahl to turn to. Dahl scored 17 points in the first half — and a career high 29 in the game. She added 9 rebounds, 3 assists and two key steals for coast-to-coast layups in the second half.
It’s amazing. The hours that parents and the players have put in; the meals and the driving; myself and the assistant coaches, the time that you put in … it just all kind of came to fruition in those final 10 seconds. This is what it’s about — to see the girls smiling and to see them excited and to see their efforts pay off.Derik Doescher, Albany coach on winning the sectional semifinal over Rio Feb. 18, 2021
“She’s amazing. I’m her biggest fan, and I’m also her biggest critic. I’m going to rider her, and she knows that — and she responds to it,” Doescher said of Dahl. “I chewed her out pretty good in the first half on a timeout, and from that point on she took it personal. I know I can do that with her, because I know she’ll respond, and that’s when you know as a coach that you have a heck of a player — when they are coachable and they’re going to take it to another level, and she did that tonight.”
Wachholz added 7 points and Brewer hit a key 3 and finished with 5 points and 6 boards. Gracie Freitag had 4 points and 7 rebounds.
“It was amazing,” Flannery said of playing in the sectional semifinal win. “It was nothing like I’ve ever felt before in any other sport. It was just so exciting. I’ve been dreaming about this since I was a little kid and I never thought I would actually make it this far.”
Flannery had an opportunity late in the tight ballgame to shoot free throws. It was the final team she would play on her homecourt, and she said that the pressure of the game, the exhausted energy of the first 33 minutes of play and the butterflies in the moment made her think back to what Coach Doescher had once told her.
“My heart was racing. I just tried to take a deep breath and listen to what coach says in practice, which is to take a deep breath and follow through. I just thought about that over and over again,” Flannery said. She made the free throw to put her team up 8 with 2:29 to play.
Just three seniors leave this year’s team, and with a slew of freshmen and sophomores from this year’s roster gaining valuable minutes throughout the season, the Comets appear on paper to be poised for another run at the state tournament.
“Lily, Ashley and Jada have been great leaders, great role models and have worked their tails off. Every group we’ve coaches so far in our four years has taken the next step. So ultimately, for next year’s senior class, that would be the state tournament,” Doescher said. “Those underclassmen are not fazed by a whole lot. They’ll give it everything they’ve got, and yeah, we’re really excited about the future. We know there is a lot of work to be done, but we’re excited about what we have in the future.”
