SOUTH WAYNE - When the season began for the Black Hawk High School girls basketball team, senior post player Aleigha Sigafus didn't know what to expect or what the season would bring.
Sigafus has been a key cog to Black Hawk's strong start. She is averaging 19.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this year.
Black Hawk (7-5, 4-1 Six Rivers East) is one game behind Barneveld (12-0, 4-0) in the race for a conference title. Barneveld, the defending Division 5 state champion, is the top-ranked team in the Associated Press Division 5 state poll. Black Hawk is coming off a 56-38 loss to Barneveld, which was the Warriors' first loss in the conference.
"We were not sure how the season would go," Sigafus said. "I didn't know it would go so well."
Sigafus and the Warriors started to believe this season could be different after a 64-58 season-opening win over Darlington on Nov. 17.
"We found out early on we have improved a lot," she said. "We are playing really well as a team. I think we have a good chance to be at the top of the conference."
Aleigha was brought up to the varsity for the postseason during her freshman year and has been a fixture since then. She even had the chance to play basketball with her older sister, Mikayla, who graduated from Black Hawk two years ago.
"I was very jittery and scared my first year playing with Jen Wellnitz," Sigafus said of the former Warriors standout who is now a redshirt freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. "I think I have grown from that and got more confidence. I'm more of a leader now."
She still keeps in touch with her sister who has moved to Estero, Florida. They talk about success and challenging times on the basketball court. She leans on Mikayla as a sister and friend.
"She (Mikayla) was someone on the team I was always close with and that helped," Aleigha said. "I always talk to her about how the game goes. She always supports me and talks me through it."
For five summers, Sigafus has taken a speed and agility class taught by Black Hawk girls basketball coach Mike Flanagan.
"It worked on my strength, stability and footwork," she said. "I have learned a ton from that. I'm not the biggest girl so I have to be strong down in the post."
Flanagan has noticed a change in her game.
"I feel like she continues to add layers to her game," Flanagan said. "With her post moves she has added to her repertoire. She has an explosive first step. She has the body control when she gets in the air to find a right angle to make the shot."
Sigafus is looking to go to either Edgewood College, Marian University or UW-Whitewater. She's undecided about her major, but she isn't hesitant about any of her moves on the basketball court. She has played basketball since sixth grade, and she wants to keep her senior season alive for as long as she can.
"In sixth grade I just played because it was fun and to be with my friends," she said. "I never knew I would become as strong of a player as I have become today. Even my coach, Mike Flanagan, didn't think I would become the player I am as a starter."
Sigafus and the Warriors are aiming to improve so they can make a run in the regional tournament in March.
"I think we have a really good chance to win a regional championship," she said.
Sigafus has been a key cog to Black Hawk's strong start. She is averaging 19.5 points and 7.8 rebounds per game this year.
Black Hawk (7-5, 4-1 Six Rivers East) is one game behind Barneveld (12-0, 4-0) in the race for a conference title. Barneveld, the defending Division 5 state champion, is the top-ranked team in the Associated Press Division 5 state poll. Black Hawk is coming off a 56-38 loss to Barneveld, which was the Warriors' first loss in the conference.
"We were not sure how the season would go," Sigafus said. "I didn't know it would go so well."
Sigafus and the Warriors started to believe this season could be different after a 64-58 season-opening win over Darlington on Nov. 17.
"We found out early on we have improved a lot," she said. "We are playing really well as a team. I think we have a good chance to be at the top of the conference."
Aleigha was brought up to the varsity for the postseason during her freshman year and has been a fixture since then. She even had the chance to play basketball with her older sister, Mikayla, who graduated from Black Hawk two years ago.
"I was very jittery and scared my first year playing with Jen Wellnitz," Sigafus said of the former Warriors standout who is now a redshirt freshman at the University of Wisconsin-Green Bay. "I think I have grown from that and got more confidence. I'm more of a leader now."
She still keeps in touch with her sister who has moved to Estero, Florida. They talk about success and challenging times on the basketball court. She leans on Mikayla as a sister and friend.
"She (Mikayla) was someone on the team I was always close with and that helped," Aleigha said. "I always talk to her about how the game goes. She always supports me and talks me through it."
For five summers, Sigafus has taken a speed and agility class taught by Black Hawk girls basketball coach Mike Flanagan.
"It worked on my strength, stability and footwork," she said. "I have learned a ton from that. I'm not the biggest girl so I have to be strong down in the post."
Flanagan has noticed a change in her game.
"I feel like she continues to add layers to her game," Flanagan said. "With her post moves she has added to her repertoire. She has an explosive first step. She has the body control when she gets in the air to find a right angle to make the shot."
Sigafus is looking to go to either Edgewood College, Marian University or UW-Whitewater. She's undecided about her major, but she isn't hesitant about any of her moves on the basketball court. She has played basketball since sixth grade, and she wants to keep her senior season alive for as long as she can.
"In sixth grade I just played because it was fun and to be with my friends," she said. "I never knew I would become as strong of a player as I have become today. Even my coach, Mike Flanagan, didn't think I would become the player I am as a starter."
Sigafus and the Warriors are aiming to improve so they can make a run in the regional tournament in March.
"I think we have a really good chance to win a regional championship," she said.
