EVANSVILLE - The Hilltopper curse is over.
Junior Paige Butler and the Black Hawk girls basketball squad threw the first punch at Division 4 nemesis Burlington Catholic Central on Thursday in their sectional semifinal and the Warriors had enough fortitude to hold off the feisty Hilltoppers in the final minutes for a 46-41 victory.
"Oh my god, I'm so happy," Butler said. "We had a lot of pressure on us."
Butler drilled carbon-copy triples from the right corner to open a 6-0 lead on the school that ousted Black Hawk (20-4) last year in the basketball sectionals and in this year's volleyball sectionals. Butler finished with a game-high 20 points and an elated Warriors head coach Mike Flanagan praised his naturally-gifted gunner.
"She's just a shooter, she's about the purest shooter I've ever coached," Flanagan said. "We were fortunate she was hitting some shots tonight."
Catholic Central (19-5) reeled the early deficit back in and tied it at 10-apiece on a Michelle Smith 3-pointer from left of the circle and took a 13-10 lead with a long distance shot from Alexa Deacon.
On the Warriors' ensuing possession, Butler caught her defender playing for the 3-pointer by ball-faking and taking it down the right baseline for a layup. Butler missed two free throws with no time on the clock, leaving Black Hawk down one, 13-12, after the first quarter.
Then the Warriors decided to get physical.
The first seven possessions between the squads resulted in turnovers, a pattern that ended when Black Hawk sophomore center Kim Wellnitz scored two of her 12 points from the right block, getting the lead back at 14-13. Hilltopper center Carol Henney followed her counterpart by going strong down the left baseline and drew a blocking foul on Wellnitz, all the while flipping up a circus shot that went off glass and in. The 6-foot, 2-inch junior, who led her team with 17 points, hit her free throw.
"She's phenomenal," Flanagan said. "I thought we did a good job of trying to hold her down."
More turnovers brought on by aggressive full-court defenses from both sides hindered the score from rising until an Aryn Wellnitz free throw and a Gabi Lehner 3-pointer from the top-of-the key with 30 seconds left gave the Warriors the lead at 18-16 heading into halftime.
Black Hawk came out swinging again the second half, with Butler leading the charge. She picked an Aryn Wellnitz short 3-pointer out of the air and put it where it belonged for a 20-16 lead. A minute later, Kim Wellnitz found Butler alone in the paint from the seat of her pants with three Hilltoppers around her to push the lead to 22-18 and start a 11-2 Warrior run.
The Warriors continued their pressure defense on the Hilltoppers and forced their opponent into mental errors and secured four steals in the third quarter to build their insurmountable lead.
"We just believe that we can pressure and make them make mistakes if we stay with it and are tenacious about it," Flanagan said.
Central's Morgan Aldrich found her Reggie Miller-like zone with seven seconds left in third and down 31-20 by finishing a layup. Then she turned around and stole the inbounds pass to secure another two points as the buzzer sounded.
The Hilltoppers cranked up the heat on Black Hawk with a constant double team on the ball along the wings. Point guard Lehner had to make the right decisions with the ball, but was forced into some tough turnovers and the Hilltoppers got the deficit down to five at 37-32 with four minutes to go.
"We practice it a lot, but these girls were way different than what we practice against," Lehner.
"We just said 'you girls are beating yourselves'," Flanagan said. "We were just throwing bad passes."
Henney got Kim Wellnitz to commit her fifth personal foul with 1:19 to go and converted one of two free throws to make the game 41-36. Sophomore Katie Place came in for Wellnitz and iced the game with a huge offensive rebound putback with 31 seconds to go. Then Butler rewarded Place on a 2-on-1 break with a bounce pass from right to left for a bunny.
Flanagan admitted he brought back the sense of disappointment the Hilltoppers had given the Warriors over the last calendar year.
"We said, 'Volleyball season? We didn't want it to end where it did. Last basketball season we didn't want it to end where it did. Let's just come out and attack these guys,'" Flanagan said.
It will be a matchup of No. 2 seeds Saturday in Fort Atkinson as the Warriors will battle Sheboygan County Christian for the right to go to the state tournament.
Junior Paige Butler and the Black Hawk girls basketball squad threw the first punch at Division 4 nemesis Burlington Catholic Central on Thursday in their sectional semifinal and the Warriors had enough fortitude to hold off the feisty Hilltoppers in the final minutes for a 46-41 victory.
"Oh my god, I'm so happy," Butler said. "We had a lot of pressure on us."
Butler drilled carbon-copy triples from the right corner to open a 6-0 lead on the school that ousted Black Hawk (20-4) last year in the basketball sectionals and in this year's volleyball sectionals. Butler finished with a game-high 20 points and an elated Warriors head coach Mike Flanagan praised his naturally-gifted gunner.
"She's just a shooter, she's about the purest shooter I've ever coached," Flanagan said. "We were fortunate she was hitting some shots tonight."
Catholic Central (19-5) reeled the early deficit back in and tied it at 10-apiece on a Michelle Smith 3-pointer from left of the circle and took a 13-10 lead with a long distance shot from Alexa Deacon.
On the Warriors' ensuing possession, Butler caught her defender playing for the 3-pointer by ball-faking and taking it down the right baseline for a layup. Butler missed two free throws with no time on the clock, leaving Black Hawk down one, 13-12, after the first quarter.
Then the Warriors decided to get physical.
The first seven possessions between the squads resulted in turnovers, a pattern that ended when Black Hawk sophomore center Kim Wellnitz scored two of her 12 points from the right block, getting the lead back at 14-13. Hilltopper center Carol Henney followed her counterpart by going strong down the left baseline and drew a blocking foul on Wellnitz, all the while flipping up a circus shot that went off glass and in. The 6-foot, 2-inch junior, who led her team with 17 points, hit her free throw.
"She's phenomenal," Flanagan said. "I thought we did a good job of trying to hold her down."
More turnovers brought on by aggressive full-court defenses from both sides hindered the score from rising until an Aryn Wellnitz free throw and a Gabi Lehner 3-pointer from the top-of-the key with 30 seconds left gave the Warriors the lead at 18-16 heading into halftime.
Black Hawk came out swinging again the second half, with Butler leading the charge. She picked an Aryn Wellnitz short 3-pointer out of the air and put it where it belonged for a 20-16 lead. A minute later, Kim Wellnitz found Butler alone in the paint from the seat of her pants with three Hilltoppers around her to push the lead to 22-18 and start a 11-2 Warrior run.
The Warriors continued their pressure defense on the Hilltoppers and forced their opponent into mental errors and secured four steals in the third quarter to build their insurmountable lead.
"We just believe that we can pressure and make them make mistakes if we stay with it and are tenacious about it," Flanagan said.
Central's Morgan Aldrich found her Reggie Miller-like zone with seven seconds left in third and down 31-20 by finishing a layup. Then she turned around and stole the inbounds pass to secure another two points as the buzzer sounded.
The Hilltoppers cranked up the heat on Black Hawk with a constant double team on the ball along the wings. Point guard Lehner had to make the right decisions with the ball, but was forced into some tough turnovers and the Hilltoppers got the deficit down to five at 37-32 with four minutes to go.
"We practice it a lot, but these girls were way different than what we practice against," Lehner.
"We just said 'you girls are beating yourselves'," Flanagan said. "We were just throwing bad passes."
Henney got Kim Wellnitz to commit her fifth personal foul with 1:19 to go and converted one of two free throws to make the game 41-36. Sophomore Katie Place came in for Wellnitz and iced the game with a huge offensive rebound putback with 31 seconds to go. Then Butler rewarded Place on a 2-on-1 break with a bounce pass from right to left for a bunny.
Flanagan admitted he brought back the sense of disappointment the Hilltoppers had given the Warriors over the last calendar year.
"We said, 'Volleyball season? We didn't want it to end where it did. Last basketball season we didn't want it to end where it did. Let's just come out and attack these guys,'" Flanagan said.
It will be a matchup of No. 2 seeds Saturday in Fort Atkinson as the Warriors will battle Sheboygan County Christian for the right to go to the state tournament.
