SUN PRAIRIE — Albany reached the sectional championship for the second straight season, but the Comets also saw their season come to a close in the state’s Elite Eight once again.

After scoring a rousing 64-31 win over Argyle in the sectional semifinal March 3, Albany had to face the state’s No. 1 ranked team: Unbeaten Randolph.

The Rockets (29-0) took an early lead on the Comets (23-5), 13-6 nearly 12 minutes into the game. A late 12-2 run by Albany put the Comets ahead at halftime 18-15. 

In the second half, that lead was trimmed to 21-20 four minutes in, and Randolph led by two five minutes later. With under eight minutes to go, the Rockets went up by six after a short spurt of points, but Albany brought it back to three with 4:35 to play. 

It was the closest the Comets would get, as the Rockets lifted off to the moon, closing the game on a 12-3 run to win 43-21.

Alana Durtschi led Albany with 12 points. Jorey Buwalda, Randolph’s 6-foot forward, had a double-double with 19 points and 12 rebounds, plus two steals and a block. 

The loss ended a 21-game winning streak the Comets had run off.

To get to the Elite Eight, the Comets had to face Argyle for the third time this season.

“Very good Argyle basketball team. Coach Wellnitz has done a phenomenal job turning that around,” said Albany coach Derik Doescher. “Grace Ganshert and Maggie Godfrey — two first-team all-conference players — man they are a handful Our girls rang the bell and those two didn’t get anything easy tonight.”

The game started slow, with the score knotted at 2-2 for nearly six minutes. That’s when the Comets went on a 13-5 run to go up with 9:16 to play. 

The pace of play worked against the Orioles, which only dip into their bench by two players.

“That’s something we’ve dealt with all year — we have just seven girls. We let the JV girls suit just because they wanted to, but we play seven. We knew Albany was going to come out and pressure us — and why wouldn’t you?” said Argyle coach Jen Wellnitz.

The Comets kept the scoring binge going, outscoring Argyle 14-3 over the final six minutes of the half to go up by 19 at the break.

“We tried four difference offenses, and nothing was really working,” Wellnitz said.

Needing to limit turnovers and hit shots to stay in the game, the Orioles look simply exhausted in the second half, as Albany continued to fire on all cylinders while dipping nine players deep throughout much of the game.

“I felt like our defense was phenomenal tonight,” Doescher said. “Possessions are important, but when you make mistakes and you know you can lean on your defense on the other end, that’s great. We have a bunch of grinders that weren’t ready to turn their uniforms in.” 

Brianna Dahl led the Comets with 23 points, while Durtschi added 12 and Kaiya Zurfluh eight. 

“When the crowd gets really into it you can feel it on the court. It felt like we got into a real rhythm out there,” Dahl said. “We knew we couldn’t let our guard down against a good team like Argyle. Good teams comes back, so we needed to keep our heads in the game. We couldn’t settle.”

The Comets connected on six 3-pointers in the game, while Argyle made just three — one from Maggie Godfrey (6 points), and two from Chesney Leigh (6). 

Grace Ganshert led Argyle with 14 points, with her first basket of the second half giving her 1,000 in her career.

“It’s really rewarding — all those hours in the gym paid off. I always wanted to do it,” Ganshert said. “I’m really happy we made it here, but we knew they are a tough team. We’re happy for the experience.”

With teammate Tori Lantz lost for the entire season, the Orioles had an empty spot in the post. Ganshert, a 5-6 all-conference guard, stepped in as a replacement and averaged a double-double the entire season.

“I like the thrill, really. I think we all just did a good job filling in those roles that were gone,” Ganshert said. “We played with her our whole lives, and it was hard without her. We only started clicking recently.”

The Orioles had already made program history with its first regional championship five days before.

“It didn’t go our way tonight, but I’m just really proud of the girls to even get here for the first time in school history,” said Wellnitz, who was in her first year running the senior-laden program. “Outside of Tori Lantz getting hurt, this was an awesome group. I’m not an emotional person, but I was on the verge of tears. Just to lose those seniors just sucks. They are fun kids, they’re good kids, they’re talented kids. To lose them just hurts the heart.”