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When a 14-point second-half lead vanished Saturday night, Kewaunee needed a Christmas miracle in March to win its first-ever WIAA Div. 4 regional girls basketball championship.
The Storm, which had racked up plenty of titles in D-3 through the years, dropped to D-4 three seasons back. Last year, Lynn Geier’s crew lost a one-point heartbreaker to visiting Valders in the championship game after her players failed to box out at the buzzer.
“We’ve been talking about that ever since,” said Geier.
“Tonight, when Valders came roaring back, I told the kids, I don’t care what anybody’s mojo is — just find your mojo.”
Enter junior forward Breanna Riha.
“I wasn’t contributing at all during the game, and I was like, I need to do something,” Riha said, recounting how she helped turn the tables on the Vikings with an offensive rebound and basket with 1:19 left to break a tie.
“When I saw that loose ball, I was like, ‘I need to take this and I need to finish it.’”
Little more than a minute later, the Vikings hit a three-pointer to pull to within one, and Riha was fouled with 4.1 seconds left. Even with a double bonus situation, she said she was incredibly nervous.
“My key to the free-throw line is I sing songs, and I was singing Rudolph the Red-Nosed Reindeer,” said Riha. “I always sing during free throws because it gets my mind off of things.”
A half-court heave by Megan Hochkammer — who scored all 19 of her points in the second half — came up short, and the Storm (21-4) had a 49-46 win to earn a shot against Manitowoc Lutheran (24-2) at Denmark Thursday night.
“It’s a game of runs,” said Geier, whose team had led 27-13 early in the second half after Lexi Hanrahan nailed a three-pointer, her third of the game.
But behind Hochkammer and Zoey Sider, Valders went on a 17-0 run before Jade Kroll and company heated up with a 13-2 run and an eight-point lead. The Vikings followed with a 10-2 run and it was tied at 42.
“We were in panic mode for a while,” Geier said. “Without Gabby (Stangel, foul trouble all night), we had to switch some personnel around. She handles the ball well, she’s an exciting player and she plays great defense. But you know what? We’ve got a great bench and we’ve been counting on them all year. They really came through.”
Kroll scored 19, Hanrahan 11, Riha and Brianna Demmin each 6, Braelyn Chevalier 4, Stangel 2 and Summer Walechka 1. The Storm made 13 of 19 free throw attempts compared to 11 of 17 for the Vikings.
In the regional semifinal a night earlier, Kroll scored 22 — 16 in the second half — as Kewaunee topped Cedar Grove-Belgium 65-46. Stangel had a trio of three-pointers among her 14 points, while Hanrahan added 12 and Riha 9. The Storm made 15 of 25 free throw attempts.
Valders finished 17-8.
At Valders last Friday, Hochkammer and Siders each scored a dozen and Audrey Wagner 11 in the Vikings’ 49-41 regional semifinal win over Algoma.
The Wolves led 19-17 at the half, but foul trouble and shots that wouldn’t fall in the second half hurt.
Junior Jadyn Nellis had a game-high 17 points, including five three-pointers, while freshman Bristol Schmidt scored 15 despite several stints on the bench due to fouls.
“The balance they had put us in a tough spot,” said Algoma coach Mark Zastrow. “They hit some really deep threes in the second half, and got momentum. But what a great year. I’ve had so much fun coaching this group. We’re going to miss the seniors. They really laid the foundation. The younger kids saw the blueprint of what we want going forward.”
Last Tuesday, Algoma won its regional opener, 55-36 over Mishicot. In the final home game for seniors Brooke Mattson, Sierra Slaby and Nora Krause, the trio combined for 29 points, including four 3-pointers. Schmidt had a team-high 16, Mattson 14 and Slaby 12.
In the regular season finale Feb. 20, Algoma led at Kewaunee 24-23 late in the first half, but the Storm used a 17-2 run in the second half to pull away in a 50-36 win. Kroll had a dozen points, including a trio of three-pointers. Stangel added 11, including two threes, and Riha 10. Schmidt paced the Wolves with 12, and Slaby added 9.
A night later, Kewaunee’s home cooking was on point, with Kroll scoring 28, Walechka 12, and Demmin and Lily Morton each 10 in the Storm’s 85-34 steamrolling of Peshtigo.
In Div. 2, Luxemburg-Casco lost in overtime to visiting Pulaski last Friday, 38-34. Sienna Blohowiak scored 12 points, Brianna Bray 7 and Erin Cherovsky and Alayna Deprez each 6. L-C ended its season 11-14.
The Spartans finished the conference campaign with a 42-36 win over Waupaca. Deprez had a dozen, all in the second half, and Cherovsky 10, including a pair of threes.
Packerland runner-up Sevastopol got three straight home games, hammering Wausaukee 70-13 in a Div. 5 regional opener, Wabeno/Laona 50-21 in a semifinal and Florence in the title game, 50-31. The Pioneers played Oneida Nation Thursday in a sectional opener.
Meanwhile, Gibraltar’s season ended in a 68-36 regional-opening loss at Niagara. Mikala Gorham scored 13 points for the Vikings to finish with 1,002 for her career.
Kewaunee 15-1
Sevastopol 14-2
Algoma 12-4
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