ALBANY – For the third straight season, the Albany Comets are regional champions after impressive wins against Pecatonica (72-41) and Fall River (75-30). The Comets (26-0) will face conference rival Barneveld (19-7) in a WIAA Division 5 sectional semifinal, set for 7 p.m. on March 2 at McFarland.
“It was important that we started hot, because we haven’t played in about two weeks,” said Albany coach Derik Doescher.
The Comets (No. 1 in Division 5), dominated the Vikings and Pirates with their high-pressure defense and offensive ball movement. Abby Hollis made five 3-pointers in each game and finished both nights with a team-high 21 points. Gracie Freitag had 12 points against Pecatonica and a career high 20 vs. Fall River. Alana Durtschi was in double figures in scoring both nights (13, 12). Avary Briggs finished with 12 against Pec, with McKenna Broughton adding 11 against Fall River.
“Abby really started us off hot with the first eight points and just set a tone of confidence for the whole team. And it’s been that way all year – we are really good at sharing the ball. Abby will get hot, and then Gracie has stretches, and then Durtschi has stretches – you can’t just key on one person because we have other girls that can fill it up. That’s huge,” Doescher said.
In the win over Pecatonica, Hollis opened with a bang, knocking down back-to-back 3s to put the Comets ahead 6-0 just over a minute into the game. Two minutes later, she hit her third triple of the night to make it 13-4.
Vikings junior Maddie Hirsch buried a 3 of her own on the next possession, but the lights would go out on Pec for the next five minutes. During that stretch, Albany ran off a 16-0 run to get ahead comfortably 29-7. By halftime, the lead was extended to 29 points at 47-18.
“There’s a reason why they are ranked No. 1 in the state. Derik does a nice job with them. They are just a different caliber of team,” said Pecatonica coach Linda Hendrickson.
Vikings senior Chloe Schraepfer, the team’s leading scorer, was held to just five points on the night.
“We should have moved the ball more, but it is what it is. And they were on fire,” Schraepfer said.
In the second half, Anna Tisch did nearly all the scoring for the Vikings. After scoring five points in the second half, she tallied 20 of her team’s 23 points, including knocking down three 3s.
“I think in the second half of this year she has really come on strong, taking and finding her own rhythm in getting the ball to the rim,” Hendrickson said. “She’s a quiet person, but she is very much a competitor, and I think this will only propel her this offseason going into her senior year. I think she’ll step up into that role of senior leader and do a good job for the team.”
Next year’s team will be in a co-op with Argyle, meaning this was the last season of solo-Pecatonica girls basketball. The school boards for the two teams approved the change, and now approval awaits from the Six Rivers Conference and the WIAA. The move is based on drastically low numbers of participation for each program.
“With what we had, I thought we did a very good job this year. The girls worked hard. They never gave up, and that’s been our motto this year. They competed to the very end, and that’s all you can ask for as a coach,” Hendrickson said.
Schraepfer said this year’s team meant a lot to her, and the memory of scoring her 1,000th point earlier this season is a moment she will cherish forever.
“My teammates, the games, the whole season especially. … When I got my 1,000th point, that was definitely fun,” Schraepfer said.
Against Fall River, the Comets knocked down 11 triples as a whole and led Fall River 41-17 at the break. Doescher challenged his team to stay steady and close out the win, which they did by outscoring the Pirates 34-13 in the second stanza.
This will be the third time this season Barneveld and Albany will meet. On Dec. 16, the Comets eked out a 53-50 win, one of just two victories of single-digits this season. A month later on Jan. 19, Albany dominated the Eagles 49-25. In the nine games since, Albany has outscored its opponents 707-294, an average of 46 points per game.
The winner will get either ninth-ranked Oshkosh Lourdes (22-3) or Oakfield (20-5).
