OCONOMOWOC - Black Hawk faced high expectations all season and set a team goal of reaching the state tournament in Green Bay. After an unbeaten regular season, the Warriors haven't slowed down in the postseason.
Saturday afternoon Black Hawk completed its goal of earning a state berth, dominating Hustisford from the start and winning 81-41.
"It's just awesome," sophomore star Natalie Leuzinger said. "We knew going deeper into the playoffs would be tighter games against harder teams, but our energy was just up there. We really brought it."
This is the fourth state berth for the Warriors (27-0), which reached the tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2011 when the current crop of players was in elementary school.
"It's crazy. I am on cloud nine right now," senior Hannah Herbst said. "I'm just savoring this moment - soaking it in. This doesn't happen all the time. Not many teams in the state get this opportunity."
Black Hawk shut down the Falcons from the opening tip, forcing Hustisford into 25 turnovers in the first half. All of those extra possessions turned into a litany of points, and the Warriors led 37-13 at halftime.
"When we get 10-second calls, five-second calls - those get our momentum going," freshman star Bailey Butler said of the defense. "Everyone gets excited, and I get excited."
Hustisford made just five baskets in the first half - one-fifth of the number of turnovers the Falcons committed.
"I think we played pretty well (defensively)," Black Hawk head coach Mike Flanagan said. "There were a couple of times we were out of position. I think Hustisford just got sped up a little bit more than they wanted to run and made some uncharacteristic mistakes."
Leuzinger and Bailey Butler found their way deep into the scorebook throughout the contest. Leuzinger scored 9 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, while Butler scored 12 of her 22 in the same timeframe.
"We started off a little slow, but our crowd gets us pumped," Leuzinger said.
Flanagan started bringing in his reserves with more than nine minutes left to go in the game and his team up 32 points. Every Warrior bench player saw significant minutes on the court, but no other player drummed up the decibel level like Abby Argall. The senior post player sees most of her minutes late in games, but that didn't stop her from dropping 8 on Hustisford in just a four-minute window.
"It feels great," Argall said of forever knowing she scored four baskets in a sectional final. "I wasn't expecting that to happen. It's a good feeling. I can't wait to play more basketball with these girls. I love them - they are my sisters."
Flanagan got a bit emotional talking about how much his players respect one another.
"Anytime a kid gets a chance to get rewarded for hard work it makes everybody on our team happy," he said. "I think the biggest thing I am proud about is how excited our kids, 1-through-13, get excited about each other - genuinely excited. When those reserves are out there and making plays and those other kids get so excited, it just shows how much they care about each other."
Herbst and Argall are seniors who have been waiting their entire career for this moment.
"I can't believe this. I have been working towards this forever, and I get really emotional talking about it. I'm really close with these girls, and it feels amazing to get this far with them," Herbst said. "On Monday, of course, we'll be getting ready for the next game."
Freshman Kaylee Marty scored 9 points, sophomore Hannah Butler had 8, and Herbst finished with 6. Black Hawk hit eight 3-pointers in all, while Hustisford hit one.
"I think (the Black Hawk team) is too young to understand what they are doing -and I think that's a beautiful thing. To them, they are just out here playing basketball, and that's just nice to have them be that humble and that grounded," Flanagan said.
Now the team gets one more week together before the state semifinal Friday morning at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
"I'm sure everyone who goes to state has said the same thing, but it's a dream come true. I can't wait to see the atmosphere," Leuzinger said.
Flanagan does have a piece of advice for his players.
"I just think we don't have to talk about anything more than we have to. It really does come down to avoiding the things you cannot control. You cannot get stuck on extras or the distractions," he said. "It's going to be a busy time, and we want them to enjoy it, but we also want to remember that we have a lot of work left to do."
Saturday afternoon Black Hawk completed its goal of earning a state berth, dominating Hustisford from the start and winning 81-41.
"It's just awesome," sophomore star Natalie Leuzinger said. "We knew going deeper into the playoffs would be tighter games against harder teams, but our energy was just up there. We really brought it."
This is the fourth state berth for the Warriors (27-0), which reached the tournament in 2009, 2010 and 2011 when the current crop of players was in elementary school.
"It's crazy. I am on cloud nine right now," senior Hannah Herbst said. "I'm just savoring this moment - soaking it in. This doesn't happen all the time. Not many teams in the state get this opportunity."
Black Hawk shut down the Falcons from the opening tip, forcing Hustisford into 25 turnovers in the first half. All of those extra possessions turned into a litany of points, and the Warriors led 37-13 at halftime.
"When we get 10-second calls, five-second calls - those get our momentum going," freshman star Bailey Butler said of the defense. "Everyone gets excited, and I get excited."
Hustisford made just five baskets in the first half - one-fifth of the number of turnovers the Falcons committed.
"I think we played pretty well (defensively)," Black Hawk head coach Mike Flanagan said. "There were a couple of times we were out of position. I think Hustisford just got sped up a little bit more than they wanted to run and made some uncharacteristic mistakes."
Leuzinger and Bailey Butler found their way deep into the scorebook throughout the contest. Leuzinger scored 9 of her game-high 22 points in the first half, while Butler scored 12 of her 22 in the same timeframe.
"We started off a little slow, but our crowd gets us pumped," Leuzinger said.
Flanagan started bringing in his reserves with more than nine minutes left to go in the game and his team up 32 points. Every Warrior bench player saw significant minutes on the court, but no other player drummed up the decibel level like Abby Argall. The senior post player sees most of her minutes late in games, but that didn't stop her from dropping 8 on Hustisford in just a four-minute window.
"It feels great," Argall said of forever knowing she scored four baskets in a sectional final. "I wasn't expecting that to happen. It's a good feeling. I can't wait to play more basketball with these girls. I love them - they are my sisters."
Flanagan got a bit emotional talking about how much his players respect one another.
"Anytime a kid gets a chance to get rewarded for hard work it makes everybody on our team happy," he said. "I think the biggest thing I am proud about is how excited our kids, 1-through-13, get excited about each other - genuinely excited. When those reserves are out there and making plays and those other kids get so excited, it just shows how much they care about each other."
Herbst and Argall are seniors who have been waiting their entire career for this moment.
"I can't believe this. I have been working towards this forever, and I get really emotional talking about it. I'm really close with these girls, and it feels amazing to get this far with them," Herbst said. "On Monday, of course, we'll be getting ready for the next game."
Freshman Kaylee Marty scored 9 points, sophomore Hannah Butler had 8, and Herbst finished with 6. Black Hawk hit eight 3-pointers in all, while Hustisford hit one.
"I think (the Black Hawk team) is too young to understand what they are doing -and I think that's a beautiful thing. To them, they are just out here playing basketball, and that's just nice to have them be that humble and that grounded," Flanagan said.
Now the team gets one more week together before the state semifinal Friday morning at the Resch Center in Green Bay.
"I'm sure everyone who goes to state has said the same thing, but it's a dream come true. I can't wait to see the atmosphere," Leuzinger said.
Flanagan does have a piece of advice for his players.
"I just think we don't have to talk about anything more than we have to. It really does come down to avoiding the things you cannot control. You cannot get stuck on extras or the distractions," he said. "It's going to be a busy time, and we want them to enjoy it, but we also want to remember that we have a lot of work left to do."
