DEFOREST — The last time New Glarus had a girls basketball team reach the sectional final (2004), the large bulk the roster hadn’t yet been born.
The year’s team equaled that mark with a 52-33 win over Pardeeville March 3 at Markesan. Two days later, looking to make history and punch their first-ever ticket to state, the Glarner Knights ran into Wisconsin’s top buzz saw in Division 2: Top-ranked and unbeaten Mineral Point. On March 5 at DeForest High School, the Pointers flustered the Knights with suffocating defense en route to a 63-43 final.
“Their experience, leadership and have been there before, Mineral Point stepped up and did a nice job playing at a different pace, as the No. 1 ranked and returning second-place team in the state should. They did a great job,” New glarus coach Kevin Parman said.
New Glarus led after five minutes of play, but the Pointers picked up the pressure on defense — and started making a home at the free throw line.
Mineral Point closed the half on a 31-8 run and went 9-for-16 from the stripe. Threes from Mallory Lindsey and Belle Watters added to the lead.
“We were all just excited and nervous, and when you’re like that for a long time in a game it makes it a lot harder to play,” senior guard Peyton Yaun said.
Mineral Point went up by as much as 28 points within the first four minutes of the second half. From that point on, though, it was the Knights that upped the pressure and caused their opponents frustrations.
“We started feeling a little bit of the pressure and we got a little chippy with each other a bit. We talked in that timeout and let the individual stuff go, and we went out and played as a team there,” Parman said.
New Glarus rattled off a 25-10 run over the course of 11 minutes to cut the deficit down to 13 with just 2:30 to play.
“I’m proud of the way they didn’t give up and gave everyone something to cheer about. I’m very proud of them for that. Everyone could have shut down right then and taken a 40-point beating, but they fought back and scratched. One more bucket could have changed things even more,” Parman said.
The pressure was too little, too late, however. Mineral Point knocked down enough double bonus free throws to regain separation. With under a minute to play, Parman called a timeout to pull his seniors and other starters off the court one final time.
Junior Alex Atwell led the Knights with 13 points. Leading scorer Lindsey Schadewalt was held to just four points — 16 below her season average. The Pointers had 18 steals and just six turnovers. Mallory Lindsey led the way with 17 points, while Kennedy Wenger had 13 in the post and Ella Chambers added 11 points.
New Glarus freshman Elle Lancaster scored 10 points, and faced the tough task of guarding Pointers star senior guard Mallory Lindsey one-on-one all night.
“I just needed to stop her — or at least slow her down — she’s faster than me,” said Lancaster, who is excited for what the future holds. “I’m excited for next year already, too.”
Senior Ellie Eichelkraut scored eight points — all in the second half — in the final game of her career. Her senior season was marred early on due to a preseason automobile accident.
“All of warm-ups, you can ask any of my teammates, I was crying the whole time because I didn’t think I was going to get to play this year,” Eichelkraut said.
She returned to action with her shooting hand wrapped in a mid-season loss to the Pointers, and was not happy with her performance.
“I was determined to not play like that again,” Eichelkraut said.
As the season went on she saw more minutes off the bench. In the sectional final, she left it all on the floor, hitting both free throw attempts and all three shots she took in the second half.
“We’ve been talking all year that we’re the underdogs, and it’s the role we wanted to be in. It would have been nice to be up, but we know what it feels like to come back,” Eichelkraut said. “This season has been amazing. This whole week, we had team dinners every night; breakfast this morning. We’ve just loved all the support from our community. As we said in the locker room, almost none of us were born the last time this happened. To do this for New Glarus has been great.”
The Knights had just three seniors on the roster, with Libby MacLean coming off the bench and Yaun starting at guard.
“Throughout this season, we came closer as a team, which helped us in the playoffs against Brodhead and Pardeeville,” Yaun said. “I’m going to hold this all very close to my heart. It was an insane season and I’m very glad we made it as far as we did.”
Yaun was appreciative of Coach Parman and her teammates for trusting her with bringing the ball up the court each possession, a task her coach said she earned.
“I’m just thankful for all of my coaches over the last couple of years pushing me to be my best and allowing me to get here and prove I could do it,” Yaun said. “My teammates, they became family to me and I’ll always remember them.”
The New Glarus underclassmen now will have to find a way to take the pain of the loss and move forward in determination to get back to the sectional level. With the bulk of the varsity minutes and scoring returning next year, it’s possible.
“It’s tough to talk about the way they feel, but they should be happy with what they accomplished, and what they set for all the young girls in the stands that were watching,” Parman said. “You see it all the time — once a team makes it this far or to state, their program grows. I can’t be more excited with where we’re headed.”
