PORTAGE — The Argyle-Pecatonica girls basketball team extended its winning streak to 26 games with sectional victories over Wauzeka-Steuben (69-50) and Cochrane-Fountain City (59-46) over the weekend. AP enters the WIAA Division 5 state tournament with just one blemish — its season-opening loss to Belleville on Nov. 14, 52-38.
“Ever since we lost that first game, we said we weren’t going to lose another. Let’s keep going,” Argyle sophomore Kylie Butler said.
The Orioles pride themselves on defense, averaging 19.4 steals per game while forcing 16.1 turnovers per game. But in their sectional final game against Cochrane-Fountain City on March 2, it was the Pirates who forced early turnovers.
“I don’t think it was nerves,” Argyle-Pecatonica head coach Jen Krogman said. “Credit Cochrane-Fountain City’s defense — it’s weird. It’s a defense I haven’t seen. I couldn’t go to bed last night until midnight. I watched that film and until I had it figured out. Coming into today, I didn’t have it completely figured out, but I thought I had it figured out enough. At the end of the day, we were going to rely on our press and defense. It worked.”
After a long defensive possession that resulted in a turnover for CFC, Brooke Wellnitz connected with Butler on a back-door cut for two. The score put AP ahead 8-2.
The Pirates got back within one possession with free throws from Aubrey Smith and Alexis Pronschinske. Isabella Holzer chipped in two points to make it a 10-7 game, favoring the Orioles.
That’s when Anna Tisch, AP’s lone starting senior, came alive. In the sectional semifinal game against Wauzeka-Steuben, she was held scoreless and grabbed just one rebound, down from averages of 8.1 ppg and 5.6 rpg.
“I was worried after the last game when I didn’t score, but I just wanted to make sure my defense was good,” she said. “For this game, I got to score and my defense was good. It gives me confidence for next week.”
Wellnitz fed Anna Tisch for two points, and after an empty trip to the line for Pirate Emmalee Mann, Anna Tisch drained a 3-pointer from the left side. On the next CFC possession, Wellnitz grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the floor to Anna Tisch, who was fouled going to the hoop. She made both of her free throws for a 10-point lead 10 minutes into the game.
Pirate head coach Rick Peterson called a timeout and, in the huddle, told his girls to stop playing scared.
“That’s what we are trying to be — we want to be scary,” Krogman said. “We want to be that monster that you are afraid to come and play against. The kids come out so aggressive and smart.”
Despite the timeout to talk it over, the Pirates continued to cough up the ball. Anna Tisch scored off a CFC turnover to make it a 21-9 game, forcing the second Pirate timeout in just two minutes. Butler snagged two steals in the backcourt, scoring on one and passing to Wellnitz for a bucket on the other.
The tides turned at the end of the first half, as Wellnitz picked up two fouls in a span of 36 seconds — the second an offensive charge. On the ensuing Pirate possession, Holzer faked a handoff in the post and drove untouched to the basket for two.
On the other end of the court, Wenger grabbed a defensive rebound with the clock winding down and took it coast to coast. Loretta Tisch stopped Wenger from scoring, fouling her on the floor. On the ensuing inbounds play, CFC missed its shot, as AP took a 25-13 lead into the locker room.
Although Loretta Tisch prevented the buzzer-beating layup, the Pirates took that stored energy from the first frame into the second half. CFC outscored AP by three in the first six minutes, cutting the Orioles’ lead to single digits.
The Orioles quickly bounced back and extended their lead to 16. First, Avari Steiner dished it to Anna Tisch for two. Moments later, Butler connected with Wellnitz on a back-door cut. Wellnitz then drew a foul and made a free throw, followed by a steal and bucket from Butler. Steiner capped the run with her own basket. The 9-2 run occurred in only two minutes.
Just as quickly as AP built its lead, CFC knocked it down again. Aubrey Smith converted a 3-point play at the free-throw line and scored on the Pirates’ next possession. Pronschinske added five points in short succession. In the same span, Wellnitz picked up her fourth foul, while Maddie Hirsch had two in a 38-second stretch.
Krogman called a timeout with 8:13 on the clock and her team’s lead at just six points.
Out of the break, the Tisch sisters lit up the floor. Loretta drained a 3-pointer, and on the Pirates’ ensuing inbounds, Anna stole the ball and scored through contact. She completed the traditional 3-point play at the line.
“I was looking to bring the team up and start a big run,” the younger Tisch said. “It was exciting and gave me more energy that helped my defense. It really picked up the team.”
Following a Butler bucket, Loretta Tisch sunk her second 3 for a 52-38 lead.
“It gave us that wind that we needed back in our sail,” Krogman said of the run. “It comes back to confidence. I don’t tell any kids they can’t shoot. If you are open for a shot, you take that shot. They (Tisch sisters) hustle. They are a bunch of track stars that have really formed into basketball players.”
With their season slipping away, the Pirates upped their ball pressure, snagging steals for easy buckets. Their full-court press also led to transition points, but ultimately AP’s ball-handling skills held out for the 59-46 win.
“My mom always tells me, ‘You got to dig deep,’” Butler said of her mom Angie, who was a former Black Hawk girls basketball assistant coach. “I was telling myself to push through it. You only have how many minutes left” until the end of the game.
Butler led the Orioles with 20 points and six steals. Anna Tisch scored a season-high 16 points with four steals. Wellnitz recorded a double-double with 11 points and 11 rebounds. She also chipped in five assists. Loretta Tisch snagged six steals.
The win earned Argyle-Pecatonica the co-op’s first state berth. Before beating Cochrane-Fountain City, though, AP had to get through Wauzeka-Steuben.
DIVISION 5 SECTIONAL SEMIFINAL:
ARGYLE-PECATONICA 69, WAUZEKA-STEUBEN 50
RICHLAND CENTER — Butler entered Thursday’s sectional semifinal game needing just nine points to reach 1,000 in her career. It took the sophomore just six minutes to complete the feat, and the points built Argyle-Pecatonica an 11-point lead.
Early on, Wauzeka-Steuben hung with Argyle-Pecatonica thanks to fast-break buckets. With just a 2-point lead at the time, Butler scored her first points of the game on a deep 3-pointer as Emma Wall gave her too much space.
Wellnitz grabbed a defensive rebound and pushed the ball up the court to Steiner for two points in transition. After a putback from Elizabeth Wright, making it a 13-8 game favoring AP, Butler scored six straight points. Her first rattled around the rim and in. She then stole the ball at halfcourt, faked a pass to Wellnitz, and drove to the hoop. For her 1,000th point, Butler cut back door and got a pass from Steiner.
“I’m happy. I’m glad that I beat my sister Bailey,” Butler said of her sister, who scored her 1,000th career point five games into her junior season. “I’m part of my family that has scored 1,000 points now, so I feel accomplished. When I managed for Hannah and Bailey, I always looked up to them, like ‘Wow. I want to be just like them one day.’”
Butler joins her four other siblings that have scored 1,000 points in their careers — Bailey (1,960 points), Hannah (1,582), Heath (1,299) and Paige (1,088). The only Butler sibling who didn’t score 1,000 points was eldest brother, Seth.
Butler’s score gave AP the spark it needed to pull away from Wauzeka-Steuben. With just over a minute left in the first half, the Orioles’ lead reached 20 points. Wellnitz intercepted a Hornet pass and quarterback-threw it to Butler for two fast-break points. Steiner capped the first period with a baseline floater, as AP took a 45-23 advantage into the locker room.
The Orioles carried their momentum into the second half, where it took just four minutes to build up a 29-point lead. Butler cut through the lane, splitting three defenders, and scored on a pass from Wellnitz for a 57-28 edge. The bucket capped a 22-5 run that began in the final two minutes of the first half.
The Hornets held off the Orioles with free throws, but AP’s lead finally reached 30 points near the 9-minute mark. Wellnitz swatted a Wauzeka-Steuben shot right to Loretta Tisch, who dished it back to Wellnitz for two points in transition.
The large lead allowed Krogman to mix in her subs, giving her starters some much-needed rest. The five — Wellnitz, Butler, Steiner and the Tisch sisters — average 22.8 minutes or more per game.
“Lately, we’ll get a 10-point lead and let the team back in,” Krogman said. “It’s like we are playing fish, ‘Oh, almost gotcha.’ It was nice to finally put a full game together and let the bench get some minutes. It’s a quick turnaround to Saturday.”
Wauzeka-Steuben made three of its seven 3-pointers in the final seven minutes, but the Hornets were in too deep of a hole to rebound.
Butler finished with 30 points, seven steals and six assists. Steiner recorded 14 points, going 2-for-3 from beyond the arc. Wellnitz tallied 13 points with a team-high nine rebounds and six assists. Loretta Tisch was the fourth Oriole in double figures with 10 points and five rebounds.
