SOUTH WAYNE - It's not how Black Hawk coach Mike Flanagan drew up the final play, but senior Olivia Holland turned into the hero.
Black Hawk senior Mikayla Sigafus drove the ball down the baseline and tossed a pass to Holland, who converted the game-winning layup with 7.2 seconds to go to lift the Warriors to a thrilling 43-41 win over Monticello in a WIAA Division 5 regional championship game Saturday, March 8. Monticello junior Alyssah Kubly's 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.
"You play it in your head through all your years of basketball," Holland said. "It was amazing. It's the best thing I have ever experienced."
It was a bizarre final 2 minutes. Black Hawk seniors Jen Wellnitz and Michelle Flanagan were part of a collision while racing for a ball along with Monticello's Marissa Berg. Flanagan suffered a bloody and swollen lip and Wellnitz fell backwards across the floor. The game was stopped for about 10 minutes so a blood spot could be cleaned up on the court. Moments later, Wellnitz collapsed with Kubly at the free throw line with 49 seconds left and had to be helped to the locker room.
"It means everything that we could do it for Jen," Holland said. "It has been our goal to get past the regional because we didn't do it last year."
With the win, Black Hawk (17-6) advances to play Randolph in a sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 13 in DeForest.
Mike Flanagan had mixed emotions after winning a regional title with two starters injured and after the Warriors finished 8 of 21 at the free throw line.
"We just won a regional championship, but it doesn't feel that way," Flanagan said. "We are thinking of Jen right now. You sometimes steal one and we stole a victory tonight."
Wellnitz, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit who scored a game-high 24 points, left the school after the game on a stretcher. Flanagan said later Saturday night that Wellnitz suffered from dehydration and didn't have a concussion. With both the collision late in the game and Wellnitz battling dehydration, Flanagan said he has never been a part of a finish to a tournament game like that before.
"It was a crazy time," he said. "I don't know what was going on. I don't know what happened on that play. I just know there were a lot of girls on the floor and we had two girls hurt. She (Wellnitz) said she got hit in the front of her head. She was a little iffy at first. Jen was looking at me in the face saying she was fine."
Monticello (15-9) led by as many as 12 points in the first half before the Warriors mounted a comeback. The Ponies missed the front end of two one-and-one free throws in the final 49 seconds to keep the door open for the Warriors.
Monticello coach Lori Brokopp hated to see two Black Hawk players suffer injuries.
"It was a good hustle play with three girls going after the ball," Brokopp said. "Unfortunately, the two Black Hawk girls collided. It was a bad break. I hope the Black Hawk girls are OK. It was too bad because we had some momentum at the free throw line and we had to wait about 10 minutes."
Early on, the Ponies started out with a bang. Kubly scored 14 of her team-high 21 points in the first half. Kubly scored on a layup late in the first quarter to give the Ponies a 12-7 lead at the end of the period.
Kubly scored on a layup and down low to help the Ponies extend the lead to 17-9. Monticello junior Paige Dilley scored on a layup and Kubly converted a conventional three-point play late in the second quarter to give the Ponies a 23-11 lead. The Ponies used sharp passing and a series of cuts to score inside.
Monticello junior Samantha DeVoe scored nine points and Berg scored eight points and had 12 rebounds.
"They came out ready to go," Brokopp said. "You could tell they were focused and played with intensity. They kept moving off the ball and driving when we needed to.
"They (Monticello) knew coming into the game that it was going to be a battle. They were not naive even going into halftime with the lead. They knew Black Hawk would have a run in them and we would exchange baskets to the end. The girls left everything out there tonight."
The Ponies limited Wellnitz to 3-for-11 shooting and nine points in the first half.
"They were playing her to her left," Flanagan said of the Ponies' defensive plan against Wellnitz. "Early in the game, she wasn't going to the left hand. Once she drove to her left and got into the middle, she got more to the rim."
The Warriors outscored the Ponies 13-5 in the third quarter. Wellnitz started heating up scoring 15 points in the second half. Wellnitz had a steal and layup with 4:21 left in the third to cut the Ponies' lead to 23-18. She had another steal and layup about midway through the period to cut the Ponies' lead to 24-20. She added a layup with 1:05 to go in the third to slice the Ponies' lead to 28-26.
Black Hawk sophomore Aleigha Sigafus scored on a layup early in the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a 30-28 lead. Kubly then drilled a 3-pointer to give the Ponies a 33-30 lead with 4:53 left. Black Hawk senior Tessa Cushman answered, knocking down a 3-pointer to tie it at 33. Wellnitz banked in a shot with 59 seconds to go to tie the game at 41 before leaving the game.
That set the stage for Mikayla Sigafus and Holland to hook up on the game-winner.
"We drew up a play, but it didn't play out like we thought it would," Flanagan said. "I thought she (Mikayla Sigafus) would get trapped. She dribbled it baseline and found Olivia. Normally, with Jen, we would have called a timeout. With Jen not on the floor, we decided to go for a good shot or else regroup for overtime."
Black Hawk senior Mikayla Sigafus drove the ball down the baseline and tossed a pass to Holland, who converted the game-winning layup with 7.2 seconds to go to lift the Warriors to a thrilling 43-41 win over Monticello in a WIAA Division 5 regional championship game Saturday, March 8. Monticello junior Alyssah Kubly's 3-pointer at the buzzer came up short.
"You play it in your head through all your years of basketball," Holland said. "It was amazing. It's the best thing I have ever experienced."
It was a bizarre final 2 minutes. Black Hawk seniors Jen Wellnitz and Michelle Flanagan were part of a collision while racing for a ball along with Monticello's Marissa Berg. Flanagan suffered a bloody and swollen lip and Wellnitz fell backwards across the floor. The game was stopped for about 10 minutes so a blood spot could be cleaned up on the court. Moments later, Wellnitz collapsed with Kubly at the free throw line with 49 seconds left and had to be helped to the locker room.
"It means everything that we could do it for Jen," Holland said. "It has been our goal to get past the regional because we didn't do it last year."
With the win, Black Hawk (17-6) advances to play Randolph in a sectional semifinal at 7 p.m. Thursday, March 13 in DeForest.
Mike Flanagan had mixed emotions after winning a regional title with two starters injured and after the Warriors finished 8 of 21 at the free throw line.
"We just won a regional championship, but it doesn't feel that way," Flanagan said. "We are thinking of Jen right now. You sometimes steal one and we stole a victory tonight."
Wellnitz, a University of Wisconsin-Green Bay recruit who scored a game-high 24 points, left the school after the game on a stretcher. Flanagan said later Saturday night that Wellnitz suffered from dehydration and didn't have a concussion. With both the collision late in the game and Wellnitz battling dehydration, Flanagan said he has never been a part of a finish to a tournament game like that before.
"It was a crazy time," he said. "I don't know what was going on. I don't know what happened on that play. I just know there were a lot of girls on the floor and we had two girls hurt. She (Wellnitz) said she got hit in the front of her head. She was a little iffy at first. Jen was looking at me in the face saying she was fine."
Monticello (15-9) led by as many as 12 points in the first half before the Warriors mounted a comeback. The Ponies missed the front end of two one-and-one free throws in the final 49 seconds to keep the door open for the Warriors.
Monticello coach Lori Brokopp hated to see two Black Hawk players suffer injuries.
"It was a good hustle play with three girls going after the ball," Brokopp said. "Unfortunately, the two Black Hawk girls collided. It was a bad break. I hope the Black Hawk girls are OK. It was too bad because we had some momentum at the free throw line and we had to wait about 10 minutes."
Early on, the Ponies started out with a bang. Kubly scored 14 of her team-high 21 points in the first half. Kubly scored on a layup late in the first quarter to give the Ponies a 12-7 lead at the end of the period.
Kubly scored on a layup and down low to help the Ponies extend the lead to 17-9. Monticello junior Paige Dilley scored on a layup and Kubly converted a conventional three-point play late in the second quarter to give the Ponies a 23-11 lead. The Ponies used sharp passing and a series of cuts to score inside.
Monticello junior Samantha DeVoe scored nine points and Berg scored eight points and had 12 rebounds.
"They came out ready to go," Brokopp said. "You could tell they were focused and played with intensity. They kept moving off the ball and driving when we needed to.
"They (Monticello) knew coming into the game that it was going to be a battle. They were not naive even going into halftime with the lead. They knew Black Hawk would have a run in them and we would exchange baskets to the end. The girls left everything out there tonight."
The Ponies limited Wellnitz to 3-for-11 shooting and nine points in the first half.
"They were playing her to her left," Flanagan said of the Ponies' defensive plan against Wellnitz. "Early in the game, she wasn't going to the left hand. Once she drove to her left and got into the middle, she got more to the rim."
The Warriors outscored the Ponies 13-5 in the third quarter. Wellnitz started heating up scoring 15 points in the second half. Wellnitz had a steal and layup with 4:21 left in the third to cut the Ponies' lead to 23-18. She had another steal and layup about midway through the period to cut the Ponies' lead to 24-20. She added a layup with 1:05 to go in the third to slice the Ponies' lead to 28-26.
Black Hawk sophomore Aleigha Sigafus scored on a layup early in the fourth quarter to give the Warriors a 30-28 lead. Kubly then drilled a 3-pointer to give the Ponies a 33-30 lead with 4:53 left. Black Hawk senior Tessa Cushman answered, knocking down a 3-pointer to tie it at 33. Wellnitz banked in a shot with 59 seconds to go to tie the game at 41 before leaving the game.
That set the stage for Mikayla Sigafus and Holland to hook up on the game-winner.
"We drew up a play, but it didn't play out like we thought it would," Flanagan said. "I thought she (Mikayla Sigafus) would get trapped. She dribbled it baseline and found Olivia. Normally, with Jen, we would have called a timeout. With Jen not on the floor, we decided to go for a good shot or else regroup for overtime."
