MONTICELLO — The Space Stallions are on to the sectionals once again. Albany-Monticello knocked off Abundant Life Christian/St. Ambrose (ALCS) 53-36 in the regional semifinal on Feb. 27, and the next night dominated late in the second half to knock off Mineral Point 50-33 in the regional final. It was the sixth straight regional championship for coach Derik Doescher.
“We knew it was going to take a special performance defensively to have an opportunity to even be in the game tonight. They (MP) are so good, they are so well coached; 19 (wins) in a row,” Doescher said after the win over Mineral Point. “We understand the achievement that that is. But these girls deserve it. They put up with me yelling and screaming and a lot of conditioning at practice for these moments.”
In the win over ALCS (20-6), the Space Stallions (24-2) jumped out to a 26-11 advantage at halftime and coasted through the second half. Sophomore Heidi Olson led the team in scoring with 16 points, while senior Molly Olson had 15. AM hit nine 3-pointers and just five 2-pointers, and finished 16-for-19 from the free throw line.
The next night against the Pointers (21-5), AM kept the defensive pressure up, leading to several uncharacteristic turnovers. While the first half was a tight battle — AM led 23-20 at halftime — the Space Stallions really locked down in the second half, allowing Mineral Point to score just 13 points.
“I felt like our kids stuck with the game plan,” Doescher said. “I thought we rebounded very well for being outsized, and that’s what it took. Ultimately, I felt like we wore them down a little bit.”
MP spent the night living or dying by the 3-point shot. In the first half, the Pointers knocked down five 3s to keep pace. In the second half, just one would fall. AM, meanwhile, hit one three in the first half, and just two in the second half
“That team is really good at shooting 3-pointers. Even though we know it, there’s only so much you can do against a team that is that skilled at shooting 3s,” Heidi Olson said.
MP also struggled with foul trouble. Starters Maddy Kabat and Ava Ingwell each had two fouls midway through the first half, and then were sitting at four fouls each with just eight minutes to play and their team trailing 35-31.
That’s when AM began to make the game-deciding run. Emerson Briggs buried a 3-pointer from the corner and MP immediately turned it over, a sequence that set the home crowd into a roar. Both teams then went four minutes without scoring until Annie Olson hit another three for AM. Emma Thompson crashed the net moments later, making the off-balance shot while getting fouled. Her three-point play put the Space Stallions ahead 44-33 with 3:02 remaining.
“I thought the three in the second half that Annie Olson hit was huge,” Doescher said. “Mineral Point had the momentum and she comes off a little pitch on the wing, slow and steady and knocks down a three like nothing’s happened.”
With 2:23 left, Ingwell fouled out, and Heidi Olson knocked down both ends of bonus free throws to extend the lead to 13 points. After Molly Olson made two more free throws in the double bonus with 1:14 left, both teams pulled their starters and the reserves closed out the contest.
“At halftime, basically the game was almost tied. We knew we had to outwork them this half. The first four minutes of the second half are critical, and once we get out ahead, we have to keep the momentum, keep the pedal down the whole time,” Heidi Olson said.
AM made 11 of 12 free throws in the second half.
The Space Stallions advance to the sectional semifinal and will face Deerfield (25-1) at 7 p.m. on Thursday, March 5 at Madison La Follette. The winner will face either Pardeeville (25-1) or Luther (17-9) at 1 p.m. on Saturday, March 7 at Middleton. Pardeeville’s only loss this season came against ALCS 64-62 on Feb. 16.
“I’m not shying away from anything — 99% of our possessions this year we play full-court, man-to-man and nobody should expect anything different because that’s what we do and that’s what we’ll continue to do,” Doescher. “We’ll have to make some shots Thursday night, but we’ll play gritty; we’ll get after it and we’ll do all the things we do. It’s going to come down to making shots.”
AM has reached the sectional level now in all three years as a co-op, and won the WIAA Division 5 state title in 2024. Because of the WIAA’s Competitive Balance directive, AM bumped up a division this year.
“You never know when it’s going to be your last game, so you just put it all out there. We just won another regional, and it’s so exciting because we just bought ourselves another week,” Molly Olson said.
