LA CROSSE — Three Lakes certainly lived up to its name by burying nine 3-pointers to stun No. 1-ranked Black Hawk, 51-48, in a WIAA Division 5 state semifinal girls’ basketball game Feb. 25 at the La Crosse Center.

The No. 9-ranked Bluejays (20-6 overall) shot 9-for-18 from beyond the 3-pointer arc for the game with senior guard Sydney Lurvey sinking 6 of 11 treys to shoot down the Warriors (21-1) and snap Black Hawk’s 75-game winning streak. Black Hawk had not lost a game since falling to Bangor in the D5 state championship game in 2018. 

“Kudos to Three Lakes. They hit a lot of shots today. We knew coming in that they had the ability to do that,” said Black Hawk head coach Michael Flanagan. “Sometimes you run into a team that really achieves. I thought (Three Lakes) shot it at a high percentage today. We had to change what we were doing defensively. In the end, it turned out to be a bit too little too late.”

The teams fought tooth-and-nail with one another from the opening tip, swapping the lead 10 times in the first half until a late 3-pointer by senior Kaylee Marty put the Warriors ahead 31-30 going into the halftime intermission.

Each team led by as many as five points in the first half. The Warriors pulled out to an early 7-2 lead, but the Bluejays came storming back with a 12-2 run of their own to turn a five-point deficit into a five-point lead. Lurvey drained two 3s and senior guard Taylor Kolling added a trey and an “and-1” three-point play to put Three Lakes up 14-9 just over seven minutes into the game.

Black Hawk charged back with a 9-0 scoring burst to pull back in front 18-14 with 9:33 to go in the half. Seniors Bailey Butler and Macie Stauffacher hits 3s to shot the Warriors back into the lead. 

“They are a great team,” said Butler, who was announced as Wisconsin’s 2020-21 Miss Basketball before the game. “We played hard. That’s we can really be expected to do.”

Lurvey answered with two more triples to put the Bluejays back on top 23-21 with just over five minutes to go. The lead traded hands three more times in the final two minutes of the half with Marty connecting on the Warriors’ six trey of the stanza with seven seconds remaining to send them into the locker room leading 31-30.

Points came even harder for each team in the second half, however the Bluejays were a little bit better from inside the arc (7-of-12), outside the arc (2-of-4) and from the foul line (5-of-11) than the Warriors, who went 7-of-28 on their 2-pointers, 1-of-10 on their 3-pointers and 2-of-10 on their free throws.

“Certainly, this wasn’t characteristic of these kids. It’s not indicative of their careers, but it’s going to be a long time before they forget about it,” Flanagan explained. “We had a lot of inside touches that looked like they were halfway down and ended up bouncing out. We needed some of those interior baskets to go for us to have success today.”

The lead switched between the teams five more times in the first 12 minutes of the second half until back-to-back 3s by Lurvey put the Bluejays up 43-38 with 5:21 to play.

A basket by Marty, a fast-break layup by Butler and a second-chance basket by sophomore Raylin Peterson allowed Black Hawk to deadlock the score at 48 all with 49 seconds to go.

Junior Sara Gruszynski put Three Lakes back on top to stay at 50-48 on a jumper in the lane with 37 ticks remaining. The Warriors missed two field goals — one 2-pointer and one 3-pointer — and free throws down the stretch, and had Butler foul out with nine seconds to play.

“We really needed to make some of our crucial shots and we didn’t,” said Stauffacher.

Kolling made 1-of-2 free throws to make it a three-point game. Black Hawk never got off a potentially game-tying shot as they turned the ball over with three seconds to go to seal their fate.

“It really sucks. We didn’t play too well in the second half. We definitely didn’t bring our energy like we usually do,” Marty said.

Butler finished with a game-high 23 points and added a team-high five assists and five steals along with six rebounds. The UW-Green Bay recruit caps her career at Black Hawk as the program’s all-time career leader in scoring (1,960 points), assists (562) and steals (565) and she also pulled down 504 career rebounds.

“I’m just proud of our team for making it here and playing hard,” Butler stated.

Marty chipped in with 14 points, four rebounds, three steals and two assists. Sophomore Tara Wellnitz grabbed a team-high nine boards with two steals and Peterson added seven rebounds and four points for the Warriors, who were held to a season-low 48 points after shooting 33 percent from the field (18-of-55), 32 percent from 3-point range (7-of-22) and 36 percent (5-of-14) from the foul line.

“It felt like a day where a lot of things didn’t go our way,” said Flanagan. “We were able to get kids, especially late in game, touches in the lane. Again, if you’re not making your layups and free throws, it really hurts you.”

Lurvey poured in 18 points on her six 3s to lead the Bluejays. Kolling tallied 14 points and two blocked shots. 

Gruszynski added eight points, six rebounds and three steals, while Mari Szews pulled down eight boards and Kara Sowinski dished out eight assists for Three Lakes.

Black Hawk entered the game heavily-favored to win it all in D5 after posting 75 consecutive victories for the state’s third-longest all-time winning streak behind Pius XI Catholic (92 games from 1988-91) and Cuba City (76 games from 2005-08). 

“You can’t take away the four trips to state with this loss. That’s pretty cool and something to be proud of for the seniors,” said Marty.

Butler, Marty and Stauffacher close their careers with four state tournament appearances and a 103-2 varsity record to match last year’s senior class for all-time career wins.

“It’s definitely been a good four years playing for Black Hawk and playing will all the girls before us,” Stauffacher said.

Butler, Marty and Stauffacher joined with Makayla Mau, who transferred from Riverdale to Black Hawk before her junior year, to make up the Warriors’ senior class this season.

“They are a phenomenal group of players who are a pleasure to be around. They have worked so hard to get us here. I’m biased, but I think they deserved a better ending than this,” Flanagan said. “We’re really appreciative for everything they have achieve and all that they have brought to our program. They left quite a legacy here. I’m just sorry we couldn’t extend it a little further.

Three Lakes went on to fall to (Wisconsin Rapids) Assumption, 55-48, in the D5 state championship game later that evening. The Royals (16-8) edged McDonell Catholic (12-4), 46-43, in the other semifinal game.