GREEN BAY — The dream season came to an end for the Albany Comets. After an unbeaten run through the regular season and sectional tournament, the Comets fell in the program’s first-ever trip to state. At the Resch Center in Green Bay, top-seeded McDonell Catholic stunned Albany in a WIAA Division 5 state semifinal on March 10, 59-20.
“First of all, to be honest, I’m a little shell shocked,” Comets coach Derik Doescher said after the game. “We haven’t faced adversity like this throughout the season. We knew McDonell Central was a really, really good team and they showed that today.”
McDonell, in its third straight trip to the state tournament, won its first program title by defeating Blair-Taylor 61-46 in the championship the next day. Blair-Taylor walloped Wabeno-Laona 55-26 in the other D5 semifinal game.
“We came ready to play, and it was great. We got the monkey off our back,” said McDonell coach Don Cooper. In each of the last two seasons, the Macks, a private school in Chippewa Falls, were one-and-done in the state tournament. “We played the aggressive style of basketball we knew how to play.”
The Comets entered the tournament 28-0 on the season and ranked No. 1 in the state in the final WBCA Coach’s Poll. McDonell was ranked eighth, and Blair-Taylor second. The computer rankings for the state tournament put Albany fourth.
“Watching film on Albany, they have been well-coached all year. They had a great season — a phenomenal season,” Cooper said. “We wanted to dictate the type of speed that we play at and make them feel very uncomfortable being on this floor for the first time.”
The Macks proved the computers right, and in hindsight, directly from tip-off.
McDonell’s Aubrey Dorn won the opening tip and Marley Hughes scored on a layup just four seconds into the game. They would lead the rest of the way. Albany ended up going nearly five minutes without scoring until Alana Durtschi sank a pair of free throws at the 13:12 mark.
The Macks, however, just kept on going, winning the early rebounding battle and getting the ball into the paint. That’s where Albany post player Gracie Freitag found herself in trouble, collecting her second foul with 11:25 to play in the first half. By that time, the Macks led 12-4, but within four minutes increased the lead to 24-6.
McDonell’s lead reached 21 at the 5:18 mark on a 3-pointer from Maddie Geissler and went up 35-11 on a transition bucket with 2:51 left before half, which held until the final buzzer of the stanza.
“Our goal at the onset of the game is to pick out their top scorers and take them out of the game, and then dictate the tempo. That’s what these girls did,” Cooper said.
The Comets started the game just 4-for-19 (21.0%) from the field, including a 1-for-11 (9.0%) mark from 3-point range. Going into the game, Albany averaged 67 points per game, and hit more than six 3s each night at a 43.7% success clip.
“I think it was a shock for us the length of the court, how tiring it can be, and with all the lights and stuff, it’s definitely a different shooting background, and I think that showed today,” sophomore Abby Hollis said.
Despite being down 24 points, a strong opening to the second half could have gotten the Comets back into it. Instead, the Macks came out even stronger than the first half, outscoring Albany 14-0 over the first 6 minutes, 36 seconds. By that time, the 49-14 deficit was all but insurmountable. The Macks put the icing on the cake by taking a 39-point lead with 7:58 to play.
“We didn’t shoot the ball well today, and that’s a big credit to McDonell Central and what they did to stymie our offense,” Doescher said.
McDonell won every major statistical category in the blowout. The Macks were 27-for-52 (51.9%) from the field, including a 3-for-12 (25%) mark from deep. The Macks finished better than Albany in rebounds 34-27, assists 18-5, blocks 5-0 and turnovers 8-19, including steals 13-3.
Dorn led all scorers with 16 points, while Isabel Hartman added 10. Hughes finished with seven, Emily Cooper nine and Sophie Schmigdahl eight.
Hollis paced Albany with eight points, including hitting two 3s. Durtschi had five points, Freitag three, McKenna Broughton and Anna Ellinger added two apiece. The Comets (28-1) were held to just 7-for-42 (16.6%) shooting from the field, and 4-for-21 (19.0%) from deep.
“Our walls in Albany are very tight, and there’s not much room, even for an official. It was a different backdrop,” Doescher said. The team tried to do different things to prepare for nerves and depth perception issues, like hold a practice at the nearby Kress Center the day before. “You know, you can do all those things, but nothing is going to seem as realistic as putting bodies and very good defenders like McDonell has out on the floor. I think that played a part of it, I think the whole journey for the first time played a part … But I certainly don’t want to take away from McDonell Central and what they did defensively — they played a large part in our shooting woes as well.”
More than a game
Albany was the smallest school represented at the state tournament, with a high school enrollment of just 94 students. McDonell has 180, Blair-Taylor 189 and Wabeno-Laona 166.
Prior to the season, the Comets saw little support in preseason predictions, generally projected to finish outside of the top two in the Six Rivers East. Instead, they ran the table up until staged to play a game in a 10,000-plus stadium at the crack of dawn.
“I’m super proud of my young ladies. This is a historical season for our program,” Doescher said. “I’m a Comet through and through and I’m super proud of what these kids have been able to achieve.”
After the game, Doescher reflected on what the team’s journey meant to the entire community.
“It really means everything (to me). I was born and raised in Albany, and I was no different than a lot of small-town kids that said, ‘Someday I’m going to get out of here; I can’t wait to get out of here.’ (I) went off to college, and the first place I wanted to go back to was Albany,” Doescher said.
Two of his children, Tatum and Tenley, are managers on the team, as is Raegan Hollis, Abby Hollis’ sister. Brandon Hollis is one of Doescher’s assistant coaches, along with Chelsea Burkhalter and Brandon Bakken.
“My daughters were on the bench. This young lady (Abby Hollis) is like a daughter to me — she’s my neighbor. I’ve got my best friend on my coaching staff,” Doescher said, fighting back emotional tears.
The Comet faithful closed the gate to the village and battled a blizzard to make sure they were ready to cheer on their team bright and early at 9:05 a.m.
“The community and their support the past three weeks through this journey of the tournament has been unreal. It really means a lot to all of us. We’ll wear that jersey proud,” Doescher said. “Even though the end result wasn’t what we wanted, we’re a really proud community right now.”
Sequel Status
The Comets lose two valuable seniors from this year’s roster: Freitag and Broughton. Freitag was the team’s tallest player by three inches, standing 6-feet tall. She played three years on varsity in the post, and averaged 12.3 points and 7.2 rebounds per game this season and collected 50 blocks, nearly double the rest of the team combined. Broughton was a guard that did what was best for the program. A year ago, she volunteered to play junior varsity to help fill out the roster. This year, she was a starter on varsity and averaged five points a game and was second in assists with 80.
The rest of the team is expected to return, which includes Hollis (17.4 ppg), Durtschi (15.0 ppg) and Avary Briggs (9.1 ppg) as the leading scorers.
“This was a good opportunity to see what it takes to get to the next step,” Doescher said. “We were able to get here, but to play with a team like McDonell Central, it’s going to take a lot of time and effort. I’m confident they’ll put that (work) in.”
Albany will begin a co-op with Monticello next season, as both schools have struggled in recent years to fill out a junior varsity lineup. That means some integration of new players will be coming, including Second-Team All-Conference Dalana Trumpy, Honorable Mention All-Conference Molly Olson and 3-Point Challenge contestant Jaden Zuber. It also means a potential change in divisions.
This year’s enrollments show a combined 197 students between the two high schools. Randolph and River Ridge were bumped up to D4 this year with 196 students, while Edgar (195) and Cashton (194) stayed in D5.
