GREEN BAY — Following through on the adopted mantra of “Unfinished Business,” the Black Hawk girls basketball team overcame last season’s defeat in the state championship to win its first gold ball. The Warriors outscored Clayton by 15 in the second half to win 51-36 March 9 at the Resch Center.

“This feeling is amazing. We totally put all of our hard work into this sport, and just finally coming out on top is amazing,” Black Hawk junior Natalie Leuzinger said. “I’ve had this dream since I picked up a basketball.”

Leuzinger opened the game with a 3-pointer, and minutes later Bailey Butler played hot-potato with Maddy Huschitt on a breakaway layup, scoring the hoop while getting the foul and bringing the Warrior Nation to its feet in celebration. 

Black Hawk’s lead reached nine twice in the first half, but the Bears overcame the run-and-jump press defense and clawed their way to a 21-21 halftime tie. Leuzinger’s opening 3 was Black Hawk’s last of the half. The Warriors missed 11 straight, while Clayton hit four-in-a-row at one point, aiding the Bears’ rally from eight-down to even it up at the break.

Clayton (27-1), like Black Hawk (28-0), was ranked either No. 1 or 2 the entire season in both the Associated Press and Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Association polls.
“In the locker room I didn’t sense any desperation,” Warriors coach Mike Flanagan said. “The kids are resilient.”

In the second half, Butler and Leuzinger took over the game. Butler scored the first seven points of the second, and the duo hit 8-of-10 shots out of the gates for the Warriors — including three 3s.

“I knew me and Nat both needed to step up in that second half, and that’s exactly what we did and it really showed,” Butler said.

After the 7-0 run to open the second half, Clayton was able to narrow Black Hawk’s lead down to a possession just once as Kailey Ketz drained a 3 with 12:55 remaining. The Warriors then erupted on a 16-4 run to take full control of the game.

“Coach gave us a talk at halftime, which was that we needed to give more energy, which was obviously controlled by us,” Leuzinger said. “We were taking good shots, they just weren’t going in. It was all about energy in the second half.”

Black Hawk held Clayton to just five points in the final five minutes of the game to close out the victory.

“I just believed in our team the whole entire half. Once we got that lead and kept it, getting stops and putting the ball through the rim, I knew we were going to finish this,” said senior Sydney Delzer, while clutching the team trophy after the game. “Just to have the gold ball is amazing.”

Leuzinger scored 23 points and Butler had 19 for Black Hawk. 

It’s the first title in program history, and it came in Black Hawk’s fifth run to state — all in the past 13 years under Flanagan’s watch.

“I wanted to dispel the myth that 13 is an unlucky number. This is season 13 for me and I finally got one,” Flanagan said.

A pep rally was held at Black Hawk High School in South Wayne Saturday night to honor the players and coaches.

“These seniors got to go out on top, and how many kids can say that?” Flanagan said. “We will eventually start talking about next year — we have a core nucleus back that’s pretty good, but they get it. They know how hard they need to work in the offseason and into next year to try to continue.”

Semifinal game, March 8

Black Hawk 71, Fall River 39

Leuzinger and Bailey Butler scored 18 points each, while Hannah Butler had 14, Kaylee Marty 9 and Maddy Huschitt eight for the Warriors.

“A couple of big factors in this one,” Flanagan said, “We were able to create quite a few turnovers, and then our 3-point shooting was pretty effective.”

The Warriors started off slow and fell behind 5-0 in the opening minutes. Leuzinger scored Black Hawk’s first basket on a drive to the basket, and then Hannah Butler hit back-to-back 3s to give the Warriors an 8-5 lead. The Warriors stayed ahead the rest of the game.

“I think it was nerves in the beginning, because we were really hyped for that game. Once we got relaxed, we were really good,” Butler said.

Fall River (24-4), ranked fifth in the state, hung with Black Hawk for the seven minutes, staying within three points at 13-10. But the Warriors pulled ahead, thanks in part to forcing turnovers on defense and hitting shots on offense. Black Hawk finished the half on a 38-6 run to make it 51-16 at halftime. Fall River would see success in the post and breaking the press in the second half, but the damage was done.

The game was a rematch from the regional final in 2017. The Warriors suffered their only loss of the season to the Pirates in that game, and it came without Leuzinger, who had been injured the night before. Fall River would advance to state that year. The loss inspired Black Hawk’s players to work harder in the offseason, foreshadowing the “Unfinished Business” mantra that would come after last year’s state-title loss to Bangor.

“We worked so hard. As soon as the season ended last year, we got into the weight room, and you know, we didn’t even have a gym last summer because our gym was getting redone — we had to go to the community park. We just worked so hard. To see the hard work pay off, it’s amazing,” Leuzinger said.

Chasing records

Leuzinger broke the Division 5 record for highest field goal percentage in a state tournament, hitting 16-of-21 shots for a 76.1 percent mark, breaking Barneveld’s Maggie Oimoen’s record from 2015 of 68.7 percent. Leuzinger also hit eight 3s on the weekend, second all-time at any state tournament, and tied the state record for best 3-point percentage in a game after hitting 2-of-3 against Fall River in the semifinal.

The Warriors broke the single-half scoring record with 51 against Fall River. The single-game record for points in a game by any team is held by Heritage Christian with 79 in 2012.

Black Hawk also broke Bangor’s record from last year (12) for most 3-pointers made in a tournament, hitting 13 in the two games this year.

Family affair

A small school such as Black Hawk is filled with family connections. Perhaps the most prominent one is the Butler family. 

Sophomore Bailey and junior Hannah are both part of the Warriors’ starting rotation, having scored 939 and 1,097 points, respectively, thus far in their careers. Older brothers Heath and Seth won titles in football, and older sister Paige and mother Angie were assistant coaches to Flanagan this season.

Paige’s situation is unique, as she was a player when Flanagan took over the program and finished her career with 1,088 points. In her senior season (2008-09), she helped lead the Warriors to their first-ever state tournament using the early forms of the 55 run-and-jump defense. Now, almost exactly 10 years to the day of that first state basketball game, Butler saw Flanagan’s vision of the program come to fruition by capping an undefeated season in the state championship.

“It’s just awesome to see,” said Paige. 

A year ago, Paige watched her sisters swell with tears after a heartbreaking defeat in the D5 title game, which helped motivate her to give back to the team and help coach this season. Twelve months later, she watched from the sidelines as her sisters smiled ear to ear while holding the school’s first-ever gold basketball.

“It’s such a great, great experience. My brothers got the gold ball, unfortunately I didn’t, but now the girls do, too,” Paige said. “I was joking with coach (Flanagan), ‘We made it to state and got the gold ball, so I guess I have to come back and coach next year.’”