SOUTH WAYNE — Black Hawk kicked off its title defense with a throttling of Benton in the opening round of the WIAA Division 5 playoffs Feb. 25. The Warriors (22-0) derailed the Zephyrs 103-34, marking the team’s 48th straight victory.
Junior Bailey Butler, a UW-Green Bay commit, finished with a triple-double (17 points, 11 assists, 10 steals), and missed the ultra-rare quadruple-double by just three rebounds.
Natalie Leuzinger, a senior preferred walk-on at Wisconsin, was 10 for 13 from the field, including 3 of 5 from beyond the arc, finishing with 23 points, six rebounds and four steals. Senior Hannah Butler had 20 points, five rebounds, four assists and three steals. Freshman Tara Wellnitz also got in on the scoring action, finishing with 10 points and five boards. Junior Kaylee Marty and freshman Raylin Peterson each added seven points for the Warriors. Zoe Stluka led Benton with 10 points.
Black Hawk blew the gates open right off the bat, and led Benton (0-23) 77-18 by halftime. The Warriors finished the game 10 of 29 from beyond the arc with 29 steals and just nine turnovers. Black Hawk also pulled down 41 rebounds and shot an even 50% from the field and 19 for 23 from the charity stripe. The Warriors also assisted 29 of their 37 baskets.
Up next for Black Hawk is Barneveld (9-14) Feb. 28, with a regional final contest against either Argyle (15-8) or Randolph (19-4) the following evening.
Division 5
Argyle 50, Southwestern 36
ARGYLE — Despite being tied at 19 at halftime, the Orioles reacted with determination instead of frustration. After outscoring the Wildcats 31-17 over the game’s final 18 minutes, Argyle earned the right to move on to the second round of the playoffs.
Tori Lantz led all scorers with 16 points for Argyle. The sophomore forward added eight rebounds and four assists. Maggie Godfrey had a double-double with 11 points and 12 rebounds, and guard Grace Ganshert capped her night with 12 points and six boards.
Hannah Lacey and Abby Budden each scored 10 points for Southwestern.
While Argyle was 13 of 18 from the charity stripe, grabbed 42 rebounds, blocked four shots and stole 10 balls, the Orioles also struggled possessing the basketball. The No. 5 seed turned the ball over 31 times in 36 minutes of action.
Argyle faces Randolph in the second round. The Rockets feature UW-Stout commit, senior Brianna Prieve, who averages 16.7 points per game this season and has launched 164 3-pointers in 23 games this year — more than seven per contest. Sisters Jorey Buwalda (13.7 ppg), a freshman, and Presley Buwalda (8.0), a sophomore, are the second and third leading scorers on the team.
Lantz leads the Orioles in shooting at 13.8 points per game, with Godfrey (10.5) and Ganshert (9.4) second and third.
Randolph 58, Pecatonica 28
RANDOLPH — Jorey Buwalda scored 20 points and grabbed six rebounds, while Brianna Prieve added 14 points, five boards, five steals and four blocks for the Rockets.
The Vikings were led in scoring by sophomore Tessa Green, who had eight points, including a pair of 3s. Freshman Chloe Schraepfer added seven points, five of which came from the free throw line.
Pecatonica, which trailed 29-12 at halftime, finished the game with just eight field goals — six 2s and Green’s two 3s. The Vikings went 8 for 12 from the charity stripe.
Randolph was 22 of 54 from the field, including 5 of 18 from beyond the arc. The Rockets also had 22 steals against Pecatonica (7-16).
Shullsburg 66, Juda 32
SHULLSBURG — The Panthers season came to a close in the opening round at No. 3-seeded Shullsburg.
The Miners, ranked much of the year in Division 5 in both the coaches and Associated Press polls, led 44-15 at halftime.
Layla Alt and Anna Wiegel each scored 13 for Shullsburg, with Brooklyn Strang adding 12 and Madison Russell nine. Triniti Elmer led Juda (3-18) with 14 points, while Montana Steinmann had seven.
The Miners stole the ball 22 times, hit nine 3-pointers, grabbed 39 rebounds and finished 24 of 59 from the field. Juda, meanwhile, hit just 12 field goals in the game — including three 3s.
Shullsburg (19-4) advances to the second round, where the Miners will host Albany (17-6).
Division 4
New Glarus 65, Brookwood 30
NEW GLARUS — The Glarner Knights picked up a convincing win in the opening round of the postseason.
The home team outscored Brookwood 31-6 in the first half and 34-24 in the second half.
Jaylynn Benson led all scorers with 19 points for the Knights. Lily Himmelmann finished with 11, Emma Marty 10, Dylan Noll eight and Shea Klosterman-Havens seven.
New Glarus (13-10) hit just three 3-pointers and 6 of 9 free throws, but the sixth-seeded Knights scored 25 baskets inside the arc.
Noemi Nicolas led 11th-seeded Brookwood (5-16) with 15 points.
Up next for New Glarus is third-seeded Cuba City (17-5) on Feb. 28. Earlier this season the Knights toppled the Cubans in a nonconference home game 48-42. It was the only blemish in Cuba City’s first 10 games of the season, which also included wins over Mineral Point (19-3) and Darlington.
The Cubans have three players that average double figures this season — Kiera Holzemer (11.7), Bailey Lutes (10.2) and Parker Kopp (10.0). Benson (17.7) is the only Knight that averages double figures in scoring — Noll (9.6) is second on the team, while Himmelmann (8.3) is third.
The winner will take on either seventh-seeded Lancaster (12-11) or No. 2 seed Mineral Point in the regional final Feb. 29.
Darlington 51, Wisconsin Heights 47
DARLINGTON — The Redbirds trailed by seven at half and by as much as 10 in the second half before rallying to beat the Vanguards in the opening round of the playoffs.
Allison Thompson and Marissa Gould each had double-doubles for Darlington, with teammate Laura Sturtz hitting four 3-pointers. Thompson had 12 points and 14 rebounds, while Gould had 10 points and 11 boards.
The Redbirds (12-10) out-scored Wisconsin Heights (9-14) 33-22 in the second half, with Thompson hitting key free throws down the stretch.
Up next for Darlington is a Feb. 28 road game at defending state champion La Crosse Aquinas (20-1). The contest will mark the fourth consecutive year the two programs have met in the postseason, with all four games going to the Blugolds.
The Aquinas feature four players averaging more than 10 points per game. Forward Lexi Donarski (24.0 ppg) is committed to play at Iowa State next season, has almost 2,000 points to her name thus far in her career and has hit more than 45% of her 111 3-pointers this year.
Forward Courtney Becker (13.8 ppg) is committed to play at Drake University next fall and averages nearly nine rebounds each night. Guard Taylor Theusch (14.2 ppg) is shooting 41% on over 150 shots from deep this season and will play at DII’s Minnesota State Mankato in the fall.
Sophomore Jaci Weisbrod (10.7) is the team’s fourth-leading scorer, and freshman Macy Donarski (9.0) already has an offer to play for UW-Green Bay at the next level.
The winner will take on either fifth-seeded Belleville (14-9) or fourth-seeded Luther (14-8) in the regional final Feb. 29.
Division 3
Brodhead 51, Richland Center 46
BRODHEAD — The Cardinals pulled away in the second half, only to be forced to hold strong over the closing minutes in order to move on in the playoffs.
Brodhead sophomore Kiarra Moe led all players with 22 points, thanks in part to hitting four 3-pointers and a perfect 4 for 4 mark from the free throw line late in the second half.
Freshman forward Abbie Dix added eight points — with six coming in the second half. Carissa Purdue finished with seven for Brodhead (16-7). The Cardinals led 25-20 at halftime.
Richland Center (7-16) had three players in double figures — freshman KJ Louis (16), sophomore Aliyah Ruhland (10) and freshman Paige Keller (11). The Hornets are a young squad with just one senior and two juniors — all of which are buried deep on the bench.
Up next for the seventh-seeded Cardinals is Rock Valley Conference champion and No. 2 seed Evansville (18-4). The Blue Devils defeated Brodhead by double figures in each of their two meetings this season. Evansville senior Paige Banks led the league in scoring this year at 18.5 points per game. Juniors Josie Rhinehart (11.9) and Rachel Tofte (8.2) are the second and third leading scorers for the Blue Devils.
Dix leads Brodhead in scoring this season at 15.8 points per game, while Moe is at 11 and Purdue at 9.7.
The winner will play either No. 3 seed Prairie du Chien (16-6) or 6-seed Westby (18-5) in the regional final Feb. 29.
