BRODHEAD — The Redbirds found their offensive stroke in a regional quarterfinal against Brodhead, but top-seeded Deerfield put an end to it the following night.
Darlington (18-8) opened up its WIAA Division 4 girls basketball tournament play at Brodhead (18-7) in a second-round matchup on Friday, Feb. 27. The Redbirds lit up the scoreboard, scoring their second-most points of the season in defeating the Cardinals 73-48. The following night in the regional final, Deerfield (25-1) humbled the Redbirds, holding DHS to just 25 points in a 48-25 route.
In the win over Brodhead, Darlington knocked down seven 3-pointers, hit 19 of 24 free throws and had a balanced attack with eight different players finding the bottom of the net.
“Just a great, collaborative team effort,” said DHS head coach Mike Flanagan. “When shots go in, that’s a big deal. We hit a lot of shots.”
Lilly Ritchie led the offensive attack, hitting three 3s on her own and finishing with a game-high 18 points.
“It’s really fun when the 3s drop,” Ritchie said. “The atmosphere in this gym was crazy tonight.”
Catie Hartwig and Maddie Gratz each added two 3s and 12 points, while Sadie Goebel was 8 of 9 from the line down the stretch and added 12 points herself. Gratz added 10 rebounds and five assists.
“This is a group of kids who have learned a ton about basketball these last couple of years, and they’ve just matured so much,” Flanagan said.
The Redbirds opened the game strong, taking an eight-point lead five minutes in at 10-2. Brodhead coach Brian Kammerer called a timeout to regroup his squad. The tactic paid dividends, as the Cardinals came screeching back and tying the score at 17 with 5:42 left to play in the opening stanza. A second timeout cooled the run and reversed the fortune, as Darlington scored 10 straight to re-open the lead. Both teams hit 3-pointers in the final 10 seconds, making it 34-24 at halftime.
“Eleven turnovers in the first half and 12 offensive rebounds (allowed),” Brodhead coach Brian Kammerer said. “We talked all week about it — we have to take care of the ball when we have it and we have to finish defense possessions.”
In the second half, DHS continued to expand its lead, going up by 15 points less than five minutes into the frame, and then by 18 with 10:45 remaining. Brodhead was unable recover, never able to bring the score back to within striking distance. With two minutes left, Darlington’s lead was 22 points, and both teams substituted their starters out of the game.
“Unfortunately, we ran into a buzzsaw tonight. I don’t think Darlington missed many shots, and we missed a ton,” Kammerer said. “It’s a tough one to gut, but hat’s off to Darlington. I can’t say enough about Coach Flanagan. Man does he have a ton of weapons. Ritchie was hot to start the game, but it’s not just to shut down Ritchie, they have so many weapons around them and they take care of the basketball — and that’s what good teams do.”
Senior Allie Dahl led Brodhead with 16 points, while freshman Ella Olson added 12.
“Defensively we were really good. Obviously Dahl is one of the best players that we’ve seen all year,” Flanagan said. Dahl had been averaging more than 20 points per game this season. “I thought Kayli Buschor did a great job, and when she got into foul trouble, we just sent another freshman in — Maicy Norgard did one heck of a job defensively on arguably one of the best players in this part of the state.”
Cardinals bow out
Every senior class is special to a coach, but the Class of 2026 has a bit more skin in the game for coach Brian Kammerer. His daughter, Gretchen Kammerer is a starter, and the senior class also includes Clemence Galand, Annelise Bethke, Karli Krumwiede, Danica Demrow, Taiya Hawkins and Dahl, the program’s all-time leading scorer.
“These seniors especially have been like daughters with me since fourth grade youth basketball, I’m going to miss the heck out of them,” Brian Kammerer said.
Dahl surpassed Erin Nyhus earlier this season as the program’s all-time leading scorer. An all-around player, she brought an extra dynamic to the team night in and night out.
“I hope the younger are watching what it takes to be an Allie Dahl. That’s countless hours in the gym, hours at tournaments. Hours when no one was watching — that’s why Allie was as good as she was,” Brian said. “It will be nearly impossible to replace Allie Dahl. There will be someone in her position, but what a blessing it was to coach her for four years. All-time leading scorer wasn’t because of garbage points. There were often times she wanted to get that one extra assist to a teammate. She could have been a lot more unselfish, and she never was. Sixteen, seventeen hundred points is unbelievable.”
Gretchen is Brian’s second daughter he’s coached through high school, but Gretchen’s perseverance to overcome medical issues in prior years of her career make this journey special.
“That part is going to be tough. A lot of truck rides together. A lot of people won’t know her history and the things she’s battled with some of her medical conditions. A couple of years ago we didn’t think she’d be out on a basketball court, and here she was right in the mix with us,” Brian said. “As a dad I will brag about my kid — she’s overcame a lot of adversity. She wanted nothing but the best for the team and would do whatever for the team. As much as people think it’s easy being a coach’s kid, some people wouldn’t be able to handle it.”
Deerfield 48, Darlington 25
The Demons came with size and depth, and Flanagan knew that would be an issue.
“They have one loss on the year, and there is a reason for that,” Flanagan said.
Deerfield out-rebounded Darlington 44-21 and blocked eight shots. The Demons’ size forced the Redbirds to host up more 3-point attempts than desired — with very few making inside the cylinder. Overall, DHS was just 3-for-19 from deep, and 0-for-14 outside of Gratz. The Redbirds were also a paltry 6-for-14 from the free throw line. Gratz, a senior, was the only player with more than two points. She finished with 15, including all three 3-pointers for the Redbirds.
A year ago, Deerfield lost just four times, went unbeaten in the Trailways Conference and was knocked out by Cambridge in the regional final. The heavy bulk of that roster returned this season.
The Demons have six players averaging eight or more points this year, led by Syd Loerke (11.6) and Tia Anderson (11.3), both sophomores. Loerke stands 6-foot-1, fellow post player Mia Haberkorn (9.3 ppg), a junior, is 5-11, senior Rowan Lasack (9.1 ppg) is 5-10, while Anderson is a 5-7.
“They have a lot of good pieces — some guards who can shoot the basketball, they have a big who is really athletic and she’s a shot-blocking machine. And when she catches the ball inside, she’d going to draw attention, and when that second comes, she’s going to find the one who’s open on the perimeter,” Flanagan said.
Against Darlington, Brecklyn Drobac, a freshman, had 16 points, followed by Anderson (11) and Loerke (8). Haberkorn had 12 rebounds and a block, Loerke finished with 11 rebounds, six blocks and a seal, and Lasack had seven rebounds, a block and a steal.
