MADISON - Black Hawk girls basketball coach Mike Flanagan had to reach into his coaching bag of tricks to pull out a variation of an inbound play with the Warriors trailing 56-54 with 6.4 seconds left.
Black Hawk senior Kim Wellnitz curled back door and junior Rachel Rygh lobbed a perfect pass to the basket. Wellnitz, who scored a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds, grabbed the pass and made an acrobatic shot as she was falling down after being fouled to tie the game at 56. She converted the traditional three-point play and put the dagger in a thrilling 58-56 win over Waukesha Catholic Memorial Tuesday in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Holiday Classic at the UW Fieldhouse.
"I think he pulled it out of his pocket," Wellnitz said of Flanagan's inbound play that he tweaked for the situation. "That was a great pass by Rachel Rygh. I couldn't have done it without her. I couldn't believe it went in because I was falling down. I guess it happened for a reason. It was a great shot."
Catholic Memorial sophomore Alison Mueller drained a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to give the Crusaders just their second lead of the game at 56-54. Flanagan first had the Warriors inbound the ball with 7.8 seconds left before he took a timeout to set up the game-winning shot.
"I knew we had two timeouts left," Flanagan said. "We just wanted to get it in so we could advance the ball. That pass would have been too far if we would have went from where we had the ball at."
Early on, the Warriors, which are ranked seventh in the WisSports.net Division 4 Coaches Poll, dominated the game against Catholic Memorial, ranked 14 in Division 2. Black Hawk (5-1, 2-0 Six Rivers East) raced out to a 17-2 first-quarter lead behind a stifling press.
Black Hawk senior Katie Place, who scored eight points and had 10 rebounds, scored on an up-and-under move down low. Rygh, who scored 15 points, and had six rebounds and five steals, came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Warriors an 8-2 lead.
Black Hawk sophomore Chaesta Shager drilled a 3-pointer from the wing and Rygh hit a jumper that helped the lead balloon to as many as 15 points. Black Hawk junior Melissa Wellnitz scored 13 points and had a team-high six steals.
"It was exciting to just come up here play a good team, good competition and get a win," Rygh said. "It was an amazing feeling when Kim made that. We were all hoping that it would work."
Catholic Memorial (6-2) erased a 15-point deficit with a 16-6 spurt that spanned the end the end of the first quarter into the second. The Crusaders switched to a 1-2-2 press to slow down the Warriors' transition and inside games.
"We didn't take care of the ball," Flanagan said. "We haven't seen anyone press us like that. We had to figure out the reads and make the pass."
Mueller made a layup that cut the Warriors' lead to 24-22 late in the second quarter. Catholic Memorial trailed the Warriors 28-24 at halftime.
Kim Wellnitz scored Black Hawk's first five points of the third quarter, which included hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Warriors a 33-24 lead. Every time it looked like the Warriors would make a run to put the game away, the Crusaders answered. Catholic Memorial sophomore Lauren Mueller closed the third quarter with a bang as she scored seven points in the final two minutes of the period. Lauren Mueller drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just inside the halfcourt line to slice the Warriors' lead to 40-39.
That set the stages for a frantic finish. Catholic Memorial senior Kristina Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer to the tie the game at 44 with 6:03 left. Catholic Memorial took its first lead when sophomore Katie Mueller scored on a layup to give the Crusaders a short-lived 46-44 lead with 5:29 to go. The Warriors sealed the game by hitting 5 of 7 free throws in the final 1:37 and they made 22 of 27 in the game.
The Warriors also were adept at attacking the zone defense the Crusaders played at times.
"Inevitably, you will see teams that do that to us," he said. "They gave us a game and we had to battle. We made enough plays."
It doesn't get any easier for Black Hawk as the Warriors will host Barneveld (4-2, 2-0) in a Six Rivers East showdown Monday.
Black Hawk senior Kim Wellnitz curled back door and junior Rachel Rygh lobbed a perfect pass to the basket. Wellnitz, who scored a game-high 19 points with seven rebounds, grabbed the pass and made an acrobatic shot as she was falling down after being fouled to tie the game at 56. She converted the traditional three-point play and put the dagger in a thrilling 58-56 win over Waukesha Catholic Memorial Tuesday in the Wisconsin Basketball Coaches Holiday Classic at the UW Fieldhouse.
"I think he pulled it out of his pocket," Wellnitz said of Flanagan's inbound play that he tweaked for the situation. "That was a great pass by Rachel Rygh. I couldn't have done it without her. I couldn't believe it went in because I was falling down. I guess it happened for a reason. It was a great shot."
Catholic Memorial sophomore Alison Mueller drained a 3-pointer with 12 seconds left to give the Crusaders just their second lead of the game at 56-54. Flanagan first had the Warriors inbound the ball with 7.8 seconds left before he took a timeout to set up the game-winning shot.
"I knew we had two timeouts left," Flanagan said. "We just wanted to get it in so we could advance the ball. That pass would have been too far if we would have went from where we had the ball at."
Early on, the Warriors, which are ranked seventh in the WisSports.net Division 4 Coaches Poll, dominated the game against Catholic Memorial, ranked 14 in Division 2. Black Hawk (5-1, 2-0 Six Rivers East) raced out to a 17-2 first-quarter lead behind a stifling press.
Black Hawk senior Katie Place, who scored eight points and had 10 rebounds, scored on an up-and-under move down low. Rygh, who scored 15 points, and had six rebounds and five steals, came up with a steal and scored on a layup to give the Warriors an 8-2 lead.
Black Hawk sophomore Chaesta Shager drilled a 3-pointer from the wing and Rygh hit a jumper that helped the lead balloon to as many as 15 points. Black Hawk junior Melissa Wellnitz scored 13 points and had a team-high six steals.
"It was exciting to just come up here play a good team, good competition and get a win," Rygh said. "It was an amazing feeling when Kim made that. We were all hoping that it would work."
Catholic Memorial (6-2) erased a 15-point deficit with a 16-6 spurt that spanned the end the end of the first quarter into the second. The Crusaders switched to a 1-2-2 press to slow down the Warriors' transition and inside games.
"We didn't take care of the ball," Flanagan said. "We haven't seen anyone press us like that. We had to figure out the reads and make the pass."
Mueller made a layup that cut the Warriors' lead to 24-22 late in the second quarter. Catholic Memorial trailed the Warriors 28-24 at halftime.
Kim Wellnitz scored Black Hawk's first five points of the third quarter, which included hitting a 3-pointer from the top of the key to give the Warriors a 33-24 lead. Every time it looked like the Warriors would make a run to put the game away, the Crusaders answered. Catholic Memorial sophomore Lauren Mueller closed the third quarter with a bang as she scored seven points in the final two minutes of the period. Lauren Mueller drained a buzzer-beating 3-pointer from just inside the halfcourt line to slice the Warriors' lead to 40-39.
That set the stages for a frantic finish. Catholic Memorial senior Kristina Rodriguez hit a 3-pointer to the tie the game at 44 with 6:03 left. Catholic Memorial took its first lead when sophomore Katie Mueller scored on a layup to give the Crusaders a short-lived 46-44 lead with 5:29 to go. The Warriors sealed the game by hitting 5 of 7 free throws in the final 1:37 and they made 22 of 27 in the game.
The Warriors also were adept at attacking the zone defense the Crusaders played at times.
"Inevitably, you will see teams that do that to us," he said. "They gave us a game and we had to battle. We made enough plays."
It doesn't get any easier for Black Hawk as the Warriors will host Barneveld (4-2, 2-0) in a Six Rivers East showdown Monday.
