GREEN BAY — Despite getting bumped up a division and despite the “gauntlet” through the playoffs, Albany-Monticello found itself playing in the WIAA Division 4 state championship on Saturday, March 14. The Space Stallions left it all on the court, but in the end lost to top-ranked Neillsville, 43-40 in a thriller that wasn’t decided until the final second of action.
“When you’ve got grit like we have, you never count yourself out,” AM head coach Derik Doescher said. “We knew it would be a tall task, but we played Deerfield, Pardeeville, Mineral Point … That lined us up for this. We were up for the challenge.”
It was the third time in four years Doescher had led his team to the state tournament. In 2023, Albany made it as a solo program and lost in the semifinals. The following year, the Comets and Monticello Ponies formed their co-op and proceeded to win the Division 5 state championship. Last year, AM fell one game shy of the state tournament, losing to Oshkosh Lourdes in the sectional final.
Albany senior Emerson Briggs was alongside Doescher all four years, playing a reserve role in 2023 and 2024. She made her presence felt in 2025 and was a vital starter this season.
Monticello senior Molly Olson was an all-conference pick the year before the two programs merged, and was a star sophomore guard en route to the 2024 championship. The experience and leadership the two seniors showed left no one surprised why they were co-captains this season.
“It’s a completely different atmosphere up here,” Molly Olson said. “Even coming back from a couple years ago to now, the lights and no backstop, people cheering all around — we just want to keep our composure and to remember to play our game. We know that we can play together as long as we stick together and believe in each other.”
With that journey now over, the pair have brought state trophy hardware to their schools.
“This is a special group. Through this whole journey, they refused to lose. They refused to have people talk about being bumped up a division, or size of school. It doesn’t matter to them. It really does not matter,” Doescher said.
State Semifinal, March 12
Monticello 45, Saint Mary Catholic 31
While the Zephyrs made the Space Stallions work in the first quarter of the game, it was AM that dominated the rest en route to clinching a berth into the state championship.
Trailing 14-11 with 8:04 left in the first half, the Space Stallions closed the half on a 14-2 run. The momentum turn started when Molly Olson found Raegan Hollis for a corner 3-pointer to knot it up at 14. Both teams traded points, with Emma Thompson driving the lane for the Space Stallions, drawing a foul at the 6:23 mark. Just over two minutes later, with 4:15 left in the half, freshman Emersen Butts drove the lane to put AM on top 18-16. SMC never saw a lead or tie again for the rest of the game.
“I thought we made some shots early, which is huge on this stage,” Doescher said. “But once again, it came down to our defense. To be able to hold a team like that to 31 points is incredible.”
Butts accounted for seven straight points in the run, and fellow AM freshman Annie Olson scored in the post with 22 seconds left to give the Space Stallions complete control of the momentum going into halftime.
“We knew they were going to pressure us hard — that was the scouting report. So getting down hill was the best course of action, and to get a foul here or there was even better,” Molly Olson said.
While SMC, the 2025 D4 runner-up, had the distinct size advantage, the Space Stallions took advantage of turnovers (8-4) and fouls (8-3).
“We went straight 55 (man-to-man defense). Our press lately has been to take the legs out of the other team, to make them work the full court, not necessarily to turn them over, but hopefully it affects their shot, it affects their energy,” Doescher said. “I feel like in the second half, that’s what did it. We stayed home, we kept them in front of us, didn’t let them get down hill and wore them down.”
SMC also shot just 29.2% in the first half, including a paltry 2-for-10 from three, compared to season averages of 45% and 32%. AM, meanwhile, was 40% from the field and 5-for-9 from three, nearly mirroring season averages.
Thompson had the first bucket of the second half, pushing AM’s advantage to 11 points — the first double digit lead of the game for either team.
With 12:50 left, Heidi Olson splashed a three off a pass from sister Molly, pushing the advantage to 16 points at 34-18. Molly Olson then scored on a layup after a turnover to push it to an 18-point lead.
The largest lead of the game came with 1:50 to go as Molly Olson made a pair of free throws to put it at 44-25. The bench reserves for both squads came onto the court with :37 seconds left.
“When we got down hill, they would foul us and they would get mad. I could tell coming into half that they were so mad at us,” Butts said. “I was like, ‘Let’s just keep taking it to them, and keep getting them more mad and into foul trouble. That should help us win the game.’”
Molly Olson led AM with 14 points, including drawing 12 fouls herself. She also had four assists, four steals and three rebounds despite being the shortest player on the court.
Butts added nine points and Thompson eight. SMC’s Autumn Crow led her team with 16 points and six rebounds. Gabby Guerrero and Luci Nackers, SMC’s second and third top scorers averaging a combined 25 points per game, both fouled out and finished with just five and three points, respectively.
State Championship, March 14
Neillsville 43, Monticello 40
As the cliche goes, in order to be the best, you have to beat the best. Albany-Monticello had proven itself through its first five games of the Division 4 playoffs — all five victories were against teams with 20 or more wins, and four straight had come against top-10 ranked opponents. The only team left standing was the state’s top-ranked team: Neillsville.
“I think one big thing is Neillsville is so patient and so good out of their offense,” Doescher said. “Some of the teams we played earlier might try to force it into the post, but Neillsville is patient and they will sit there and ball screen away and ball screen away and really make you work side to side.”
The Warriors, with commanding size, played a 3-2 zone defense, slowing the game down and keeping away from the fast-paced action the Space Stallions like to play. AM struggled to find the right angles to attack the rim, and open looks from beyond the arc weren’t quite as open as they had been throughout the season.
The Space Stallions played catch-up the entire first half, and found themselves trailing by seven at halftime, 20-13, after a free throw with time expired.
“We were very passive on some open shots, and our ball movement wasn’t as crisp as we would like it. At halftime, we had only 13 field goal attempts,” Doescher said. “In the second half, we moved the ball around a lot quicker … spread it to different shooters and, obviously, we took those shots.”
AM had committed eight turnovers in the half, which Neillsville turned into 13 points. Meanwhile, the Stallions had just two points off of six Warrior turnovers. Where Neillsville really hurt AM was in the lane. The Warriors had 14 points in the paint to AM’s zero, including eight second-chance points. Neillsville also out-rebounded AM 13-7.
Molly Olson said that at halftime, the Space Stallions knew they needed to elevate the intensity, pressure Neillsville and keep fighting.
Emerson Briggs, who missed much of the SMC game with an injured ankle, hit a 3-pointer just 11 seconds into the second half — a sign of things to come for AM. Heidi Olson followed with a layup, and Molly Olson picked the pocket of guard Laylah Walk and took the steal uncontested the other way for another layup, tying the score at 20 with 14:14 to go.
“Once we started getting our transition points, then we also started to figure out how to attack their zone a little bit,” Molly Olson said. Seeing the ball go through the hoop helped settle the Stallions down a bit and get back into their preferred pace of play. “Let’s keep it up. The energy is good. Let’s just roll with it. Once our defense starts to pick up, it makes our offense easier.”
The run didn’t end there, Butts made a pair of free throws to put AM ahead by two, and with 12:55 left, Thompson was fouled trying to capitalize on a in transition after a steal of her own. She hit one of the two shots from the charity stripe, and in just six minutes after halftime, the Space Stallions had lit a spark under the stadium with a 10-0 run and a 23-20 lead.
For the final 12 minutes of the second half, it was a dog fight that came down to the very last second of action. The two squads swapped leads or were tied five more times as the clock ticked away. Heidi Olson connected on a 3-pointer to tie the game at 34 with 4:21 remaining, but it would be the last time AM would equal Neillsville. The Warriors scored seven straight points — five of which on free throws — to rebuild a 7-point lead with just 61 seconds remaining.
But the Space Stallions weren’t out of fuel just yet.
With 52 ticks left, Butts found Heidi Olson for a clutch 3-pointer to bring it to 41-37. Butts assisted Annie Olson for a corner three moments later. It was the third three-pointer of the game for the freshman, the younger of the three Olson sisters on the team.
“If anyone knows Annie, she’s shy and quiet, so to see her come out of her shell and knock down some big shots, it was really cool,” Molly Olson said.
With 17 seconds left on the clock and less than two seconds on the back court, Butts was called for a foul on Madi Davel, Neillsville’s leading scorer and 74% free throw shooter. However, Davel’s freebie was off-target, and Butts corralled the rebound.
It appeared the Space Stallions were going to have the ball in hand, down 41-40 and going in for the game’s final shot. However, as Molly Olson began to drive, Neillsville defenders cut off her path to the rim. She then sent a pass to Heidi, waiting right wing extended for another three-point try. Instead, the ball was deflected and stolen by Davel, who was promptly fouled with 0.8 seconds left. This time around, Davel made both free throws, and the ensuing full-court Hail Mary pass by AM was stolen, ending the game.
“Congratulations and credit to Neillsville, who are very well coached and a great team,” Doescher said. “At the end, they made one more play than we did, and that’s the game of basketball.”
Annie Olson led Albany-Monticello with nine points. Heidi and Molly Olson each had eight points, with Molly adding six steals. Emerson Briggs added six points. Butts led AM with eight rebounds and eight assists to go along with — you guessed it — eight points. The eight assists by Butts is tied for fourth all-time in a Division 4 girls state game, and is one more than Albany grad Alana Durtschi had in 2024, which is third all-time in D5. Molly Olson’s 10 steals between both games ties her for fifth most all-time in D4.
Freshman Eden Marg led Neillsville with 16 points off the bench. She also finished with 10 rebounds. Davel’s five points were 12 under her average.
Braelyn Anding had 10 points for the Warriors, while Warren, at 6-foot-2 had six points and 14 rebounds. Neillsville out-rebounded AM 36-19 overall in the game.
“Our priorities are: Defend, rebound and take care of the ball and get better shots than the other team does,” Neillsville coach John Gaier said.
Soaking it all in
While each season is unique to a team, the 2025-26 Space Stallions had something special going on, the players said. The mix of youth and experience, talent, chemistry and perfect blending of two schools three years into a partnership kept the team in elite status — in conference as co-champions, and in Division 4 after getting bumped up.
“This is a special group, led by our two seniors Molly and Emerson, and a special bond with these sisters. I’m just happy to have been a part of it,” Doescher said.
The Olsons got a chance to play together for one full year at the high school level.
“It’s been great playing with my sisters and I’ve really enjoyed it,” Molly Olson said.
Molly will graduate in the spring, but Heidi and Annie will return next season.
“It’s been the best,” Heidi said of playing with Molly and Annie. “I’m going to miss it so much.”
While the tournament was the first as players for Annie and Heidi, it was the second for Molly Olson, and third for Briggs. The pair are the only seniors in the program. Returning next year will be just one more senior, Reegan Schmidt, a junior reserve this season, also making her second appearance at state.
The tournament also celebrated 50 years of the WIAA girls basketball tournament.
“It’s special, because not everybody’s always had this opportunity. My grandma’s favorite story is to say, ‘When I played basketball, we only got to play in the half court.’ We hear it every time!” Molly Olson said, laughing. “We’ve come so far. We work this hard and we fill the stands too — people are coming to see us just as much as to see the boys game, so that’s incredible.”
“Every home game, whether it’s in Albany or Monticello, the stands are packed,” Doescher said.”It’s not just been during the state tournament, it’s been all season long. We certainly couldn’t do it without that support.”
She said that walking through the halls at schools, the elementary students will come up and give the players hugs and handmade cards. The continued support from both communities has been eye-opening.
“It shows that people really follow us and that we can kind of make a difference. It’s really cool and really special,” Molly Olson said.
“The way it’s brought our communities together — I know more people in Albany than I’ve ever known — it’s all just so special,” Heidi said.
