New division, same Macks. For the fourth season in a row, the McDonell Central Catholic Macks are heading back to the girls state basketball tournament. McDonell defeated fellow West Cloverbelt co-champion Fall Creek 58-38 Saturday to make yet another return trip to the Resch Center in Green Bay.
It’s the first time the Macks have been to the Division 4 State Tournament as the previous three seasons came when McDonell competed in Division 5. It’s an accomplishment that’s not lost on the Macks
“It does because not too many teams can say that they’ve won Division five [and then moved up a division],” McDonell head coach Don Cooper said when asked if making it in Division 4 meant anything more. “It’s very challenging for us because there’s a lot of quality teams and that begins with Fall Creek.”
The Doghouse at Eau Claire North High School was the site of the rubber match with everything on the line. The Macks handed the Crickets their lone conference loss with a 64-44 win at McDonell in early January but Fall Creek got even a month later, dealing McDonell its first conference loss in two seasons with a 49-45 win in February.
It looked like a repeat of the pair’s previous meeting was unfolding. McDonell had gone up 22-14 with 3:48 to go in the first half but the Crickets closed on an 8-2 run and made it 24-22 at half. Fall Creek had all the momentum and Cooper delivered a simple message to the Macks at halftime.
“We challenged them in the locker room and said ‘Who wants it more,’” Cooper said. “‘They all started screaming ‘We want it more.’ We fired them up out of the locker room and they just showed in the second half, the intensity level rose to the occasion.”
The halftime speech also made reference to the Macks previous loss to Fall Creek according to senior and season leading-scorer Emily Cooper. The senior guard said McDonell remembered how it felt after its previous loss to Fall Creek and the Macks used it as fuel for the second half.
It was clear McDonell’s players took the message to heart. The Macks embarked on an 11-0 run that put them ahead 35-22. Nine points in that stretch came from senior forward Aubrey Dorn.
Dorn got off to a quick start, but picked up two fouls in the first six minutes of the game. She played cautious for the rest of the opening 18 minutes, but used halftime as a time to settle down and readjust. Dorn hounded the Crickets on the boards and had several putback attempts, including an and-1 opportunity after a sequence where she grabbed her own miss twice.
“When I had two fouls, I was like, ‘Oh no, what am I gonna do? I can’t get another foul,’” Dorn said. “In the locker room, I reflected that ‘It’s now or never. It could be your last game. You have to put all that effort out there.’ If I fouled out, I fouled out, but at least I know what I’m doing to try and help my team win.”
Dorn didn’t foul out and finished with 19 points. The Macks defense was just too much for Fall Creek in the second half. An Emily Cooper 3-pointer with 9:20 to go made the score 42-28, the largest lead yet for McDonell.
The lead was never so much as whittled down to single digits again. McDonell was ready for everything Fall Creek did. Drives, 3-pointers, trying to get to the free-throw line, you name it. The Crickets tried everything but the Macks just wouldn’t be denied. McDonell held Fall Creek to 16 second-half points, winning the battle between two of the state’s premier defensive programs.
No Crickets reached double-figures in scoring. Senior Kambel Sell led the team with eight points, all of which came in the first half. All-West Cloverbelt first-team sophomore Jasmin Heuer was held to six points.
“The key defensively in the second half was not fouling as much,” Don Cooper said. “Being in the position, don’t let them attack the lanes or the gaps in our zone and then defensively man-to-man, always show the hands.
While much of the production came from seniors like Dorn and Emily Cooper, the Macks freshman helped pave the way for another trip to state as well. Freshman EllaMay Cooper, the granddaughter of coach Don Cooper and the sister of Emily Cooper, was held scoreless in McDonell’s last meeting with Fall Creek but led the team in scoring with 20 points in the rubber match.
EllaMay Cooper was fearless driving to the rim and flashed ranged from beyond-the-arc as well.
“Her confidence is definitely shooting through the roof right now,” Emily Cooper said of EllaMay. “In the beginning, she was a little smaller and was getting blocked. She took it as ‘Oh, I can’t do it anymore.’ But I said ‘Keep going. You’re the best person on the court.’ And now she’s really taking that in herself.”
That type of encouragement was something Don Cooper lauded his team’s senior class for as well as teaching the freshman to buy into the program.
“The freshmen feel so confident with the seniors and their leadership,” Cooper said.
For Fall Creek, it’s a tough end to what was a remarkable season but there’s plenty of reason to believe the Crickets will be back. All-Conference players in Heuer, Kennedy Tumm and Anna Dougherty will all return next season as well as a host of others with the experience of a deep playoff run now under their belts.
“All these guys gain experience coming back next year,” Fall Creek head coach Jason Martzke said. “It helps us figure out some things we have to improve on for next year. That’s a long way away and right now these guys just gotta be proud of what they accomplished and just appreciate what we had.”
As for the Macks, the senior class of Dorn, Emily Cooper, Maddy Geissler, Kali Goulet, Katie Ruf, Isabel Hartman and Kylee Jensen are now 4-for-4 in trips to the state tournament. McDonell had never even made one trip to state before this senior class arrived.
“It feels amazing,” Dorn said. “That feeling is electric.”
The accomplishment of reaching four title games wasn’t lost on the Macks. McDonell seemed to relish and embrace the history it had made.
“I can’t even describe to you how I’m feeling right now,” Emily Cooper said. “Overjoyed. Excitement. It’s a lot to go to stay four times in a row. I don’t know a lot of people that could say that and being able to share with this team, they’re like my second family and it’s an amazing feeling.”
The novelty doesn’t wear off after four in a row either. While each McDonell team over this four-year run has been unique in its own way, the Macks head coach mentioned his seniors when asked what makes this group so special.
“These seniors,” Don Cooper said. “They practiced hard every single day, they came and always played hard and I’m just so appreciative of the seniors and what they brought to the program.”
McDonell was given the No. 2 seed and will face No. 3 Cuba City on Thursday. The game will tip approximately 15 minutes after the other Division 4 semifinal between No. 1 Laconia and No. 4 The Prairie School that tips off at 6:35 p.m.
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