MADISON — Over the last decade, Mike Flanagan’s Black Hawk girls basketball team has become one of the state’s premier programs, reaching the state games four times. Currently the top-ranked team in Division 5, the Warriors have been dominating teams over the last two seasons, losing just once and consistently routing teams by 30 or more points.

A day after pummeling Juda 84-20, the Warriors finally got a chance to take on “one of the big dogs.” While already scheduling and defeating Division 4 and Division 3 teams (Platteville and Melrose-Mindoro for example), Madison Edgewood is a D3 team that plays in a rugged D2 conference. Injuries and graduation have kept Edgewood down this season, but a team that consistently bangs around with ranked teams such as Monroe, Monona Grove and Stoughton brings a new element that Black Hawk is not used to.

“We are kind of used to this because we play a lot of teams that are a lot bigger and a lot taller that we are,” Black Hawk junior Natalie Leuzinger said after her team’s 70-58 road win Feb. 2. “Personally, I feel that we play better when we are outsized because we are so used to it and we’re not afraid to get physical.”

The game was a tale of two halves, while the Warriors did what the best teams in any division do — find a way to close it out.

Black Hawk built a 42-26 lead by halftime. Using their patented press and tight half-court pressure defense, the Warriors forced the Crusaders into unforced errors and turnovers that led to extra possessions. After leading 16-13 five minutes into the game, Black Hawk went on a 12-1 run that opened the score.

“I thought that we were physical enough. Going into halftime they had just two offensive rebounds, and considering the size advantage that they have that’s pretty impressive for our kids,” Black Hawk coach Mike Flanagan said.

Late in the half, sophomore Bailey Butler took a steal off an Edgewood inbound pass and scored in the paint to make it a 15-point game, only for Edgewood’s Baluck Deang to score on a putback moments later. Holding out for the final shot of the first half, Butler, a UW-Green Bay recruit, curled around a double screen and hit a 3 just before the buzzer in front of a crowd that included UW-Madison head coach Jonathan Tsipsis.

“It was a great momentum shot for us. It was a great screen, great pass and a shot they weren’t expecting,” Butler said.

Butler raised the lead to 18 just 90 seconds into the second half with another 3. She finished 5-of-8 from beyond the arc in the game and led all scorers with 23 points.

Edgewood, however, didn’t quit. The 2017 state champion went on a 9-0 run to bring the deficit back to single digits before Kaylee Marty hit a pair of free throws. After a hoop by Edgewood’s Sydney Olson, Butler hit yet another 3 and then forced a turnover on defense in which Marty took the ball coast to coast to make it a 14-point game with 10:19 to play.

“Coach (Flanagan) even said that we could look for the 3, but it had to be inside-outs. They are looking to block every shot and looking to swat so we have to pump fake and hope to get a foul out of it,” Leuzinger said.

A 14-5 Edgewood run again brought the score to 57-52 Black Hawk with just 5:46 to play. It was the first time the two teams had been within five points since the sixth minute of the game.

“We just talked about staying the course and overcoming the adversity. You’re going to run into stretches by teams like that where they are going to hit some big 3s. We got caught in situations we didn’t want to be in, but credit to the girls, they kept their cool and kept their composure and, in the end, they made plays to solidify the game and got it done,” Flanagan said.

Natalie Leuzinger scored in the paint off a baseline drive, and then Hannah Butler scored on a backdoor feed from Sydney Delzer to restore order with 4:30 to play. Then, with 2:41 left, Bailey Butler found her sister Hannah in the post to put the Warriors back up by double digits. Free throws down the stretch stifled any last opportunity Edgewood would have to get back into the game. Black Hawk was 21 of 25 in the game from the charity stripe, with Bailey Butler a perfect 4-for-4 and Marty perfect on nine attempts.

“It helps me a lot and boosts my confidence especially,” Marty said.

Marty finished with 13 points, while Leuzinger had 11, Hannah Butler nine and Maddy Huschitt eight.

While Edgewood had more than 20 turnovers, Black Hawk finished with just two for the game.

“It’s a compliment to the kids to take care of the ball like that,” Flanagan said. “These kids, the way they practice and the way they perform is just a product of the way we do things every day. I’m just proud of their ability to find ways to make plays when things are necessary.”

Lindsey Langlois led Edgewood with 13 points and hit three 3s, while Amber Grosse had 12 points, Baluck Deang 10 and Sarah Lazar nine.

“Hats off to Edgewood, they are just continuing to improve. You look at their first Oregon game and then recently knocked them off — and we know Oregon just recently knocked off Monroe. (Edgewood) is a team that’s well coached, they are really young and progressing and I wouldn’t want to run into them if I was a Division 3 team in a regional or sectional situation, especially when they were knocking down 3s like they did against us,” Flanagan said.

Black Hawk left Madison with three conference games remaining, needing just one win to score at least a share of the conference title and two to clinch the outright championship. A nonconference game at Darlington (12-4) Feb. 11 precedes the regular season finale against Albany (13-5) Feb. 15. 

Hannah Butler said her team isn’t worried about playoffs or anything a week away. “We just play one game at a time.”

Black Hawk 84, Juda 20, Feb. 1

SOUTH WAYNE — Hannah Butler had a double-double with 21 points and 10 rebounds, four assist and five steals. Bailey Butler had 19 points, five boards, five assists and five steals, Leuzinger 19 points and Marty 10 points and four steals.

Black Hawk led 50-12 at halftime, and with a running clock in the second half the Warriors held the Panthers to just eight points after the break

The Warriors collected 27 steals while turning the ball over just two times and shot 50 percent from the field (37-for-74).